Finding Hope
by Animation Universe 2005
Summary: Two young people from group home hope to find family and friendship along the way. Hope ya'll like!
1. Two New Friends

Here with a new story and this is total angst. Hope you like this fic! And it's basically about two people from group home that has been through so much that they could find something that matters most-finding family and making friendships.

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Finding Hope

by: Terrell James

Chapter 1: Two New Friends

It was a typical Monday morning at Whoville High and Jojo McDodd walks around the hallway when all of a sudden, someone threw a book at him and aims it at his head. He feels the sudden blow on his head and suddenly, sees three high school senior jocks laughing at him. Jojo rolls his eyes and one of the jocks said, "Congratulations, Eric. You just caught your first emo-freak!"

Most of them were waiting for Jojo to respond, but he took off walking. They didn't really take it well, so they confronted him and grabbed his backpack on purpose. Jojo groaned and said, "Is that really necessary?"

"Well, you finally talked!" said one of the jocks.

"Can you put me down?"

Most of them mocked him as they dumped everything in his book bag and they were laughing at him. Then, Eric comes in and said, "McDodd, you will never amount to anything. Not even your own dad can amount to everything and he's the mayor here. If you think you have a better chance of being in his footsteps, think again!"

All of them kept laughing at Jojo and they even did the unthinkable-punch him in the face. Then, as if by a freakish miracle, someone attempted to step in and stop them.

"Why don't you guys pick on someone your own size?"

They turned around and saw another who-dark black hair with blue bangs, grey and black striped, 14 years old, 5'1, 142 pounds, wearing a black T-shirt with a red punk guitar on the center, wears dark blue jeans and has earphones on his ears and wears a grey hoodie and wears a silver chain on his neck that reads 'Frankie' on the center-planning to stop them from tormenting Jojo.

"And what if we don't?"

He scoffs and said, "Have you ever heard my friends, Brass and Chain?"

"No."

He shows his fists to them and said, "You will if you put your hands on this guy, because the type of greeting they'll give you is a black eye."

Eric and the boys looked at this kid and realize that it's about that time to leave the premises immediately. They put Jojo down on the floor and Eric said, "Lucky he's here to save you, but next time, you won't be so lucky. I can promise you that."

They walked away and Jojo picks up everything from his bag and put them back on his bag. He looked at him and said, "You didn't have to do that."

"But I had to. Whenever I see anyone being tormented because they call them 'emo' or 'freak', that's where I have to defend them, because I'm not letting people like you stand for that. If they go too far, that's the point where I introduce them to Brass and Chain."

"Brass and Chain?"

He chuckles and said, "Dude, they're my knuckles."

He looks at his knuckles and sees those names inititalled in his fingers. And he responded, "Oh, okay. I get it now."

"Besides, I'm used to it. They always tormented me back to the group home."

"Group home?"

"Yep. It's where foster kids stick around when they don't have an actual home or family."

"You don't have a family?"

"Nah, they died when I was three."

"That's gotta be rough."

"It has. It's affected my my whole life, so I never wanted to give anyone a chance as I grew older, like 'what's the point', you know? And also, I get transferred to several different schools."

"That's crazy."

"Yeah, but I kinda want to stay in Whoville. It's kinda cool, so."

"Well, you've come to the right school. Plus, thanks for saving me and helping me out."

"Appreciate it."

"I'm Jojo McDodd."

"Frankie Bridges. You can call me Franklin, but I prefer 'Frankie'."

"Sure, Frankie. I gotta head to my first period class. See ya later."

"Me too. Bye, Jojo."

Not long before he got to class, he sees another who-dark brown hair with red bangs with a mohawk on the side, brown eyes, 5'3, 144 pounds, 15 years old, wears a red and black T-shirt with chains in the middle, light blue jeans, wearing a green striped hoodie, green and grey striped, and has a braclet on his wrist that reads 'Punks'. He comes up to him as he walks by the class and sits down next to each other in the front of the row.

The new kid looks at Jojo and said, "I'm Max. What's your name?"

"Jojo McDodd."

"You go to school here?"

"Yep."

"I'm new here and I'm only in a group home."

"A group home? My new friend, Frankie told me the same thing."

"Frankie? Frankie Bridges?"

"You know him?"

"We're in the same group home."

"How'd you guys meet?"

"About 8 years."

"That's a lot."

"I know, but I just hope that I stay here in this school, because I don't want to be transferred to another school. Can't stand another minute of being tormented and faced with loneliness."

"Hope so too."

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This is only the beginning. Stick around for more!


	2. Introducing

And here's how the rest of the gang introduces to our new friends.

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Chapter 2: Introducing

Lunch period came along and Jojo was sitting at the table along with Mike, Cody, Zeke, Seth, Austin, Noah and Dustin. Mike asked Jojo, "What's the haps, man?"

"Not much." answered Jojo.

"Have you seen this vid on WhoTube last night?" asked Zeke.

"What vid?"

"Okay, there's this 8-year old kid that went home after being in the dentist and when he looked in the mirror at the bathroom, he definitely screamed out loud when he saw his cheeks swell. He thought he looked like a monster."

"No, I haven't."

Zeke whips out his phone and quickly went to thw WhoTube site while he, Jojo, Noah, Seth, Austin, Mike, Cody and Dustin went in to watch the video. When they go to the mirror of the swelled cheek and start to scream, they just started laughing.

"It's that bad, huh?" asked Dustin.

"He was so ticked off." Zeke replied.

"Well, I guess that brightened my day up." Jojo said.

"Brighten it up how?"

"Well, remember Eric Jackson and his crew?"

"The high school jocks?" asked Cody.

"Yep. They just pummeled me as soon as I came in the school."

Zeke was ticked at them and said, "Did they put their hands on you?"

"Yeah."

"When I get ahold of these sports addicted douchebags-"

"But, it was handled already."

"By the principal?"

"Nah, by someone else."

They were eager to know who it was and Jojo answered, "A new kid came in and saved me."

"A new kid?" asked Mike.

"Yep."

"Who was it?"

"It was me."

They all turned around and saw Frankie come in with his lunch. He looked nervous and asked, "Can I...sit with you guys?"

"Sure thing." Jojo replied.

Frankie sits next to Jojo and everyone stared at him for a while, which made Frankie a little nervous. Jojo smiled at him and then said, "Don't worry, guys. He saved me from these jocks jerks. Guys, this is Frankie. Frankie, these are my friends, Zeke, Noah, Cody, Mike, Dustin, Seth and Austin."

"Nice to meet you." Frankie said, nervously.

"Same here." Austin said.

"How'd you save Jojo?" asked Cody.

"I used my fists."

Zeke gasped in amazement and asked in excitement, "You beat them up?"

"No, but I showed them my knuckles, so if anyone messes with anyone of my friends, Brass and Chain will take care of them."

"Brass and Chain?" asked Seth.

"The names of my fists."

"Oh, okay."

"Where you from?" asked Noah.

"I'm in a group home."

"Like a foster home?"

"Yep. My parents died when I was three."

"Man, I'm sorry."

"I've been in and out of foster care for 11 years and went to several different schools and only one high school."

"Which was...?"

"Here. Though, I'm gonna be transferred to another school pretty soon, so..."

"Transfer?"

"Yeah, most kids who are in foster care have to be in different schools. I've been to 12 different schools in middle school and elementary schools. Most teens who are in foster care get transferred to eight different high schools, but I don't think I would want to transfer to another school, because I need someone to be by my side, no matter what. I've been lonely ever since my parents died and it hasn't been so easy for me. As I grew older, people start to make fun of me because of the way I am and I haven't got much friends at group home except for Max, of course."

"Who's Max?" asked Seth.

"You guys would love to meet him. He's kinda shy and he's been through a lot since-"

Frankie stopped there, because he didn't want to mention to his new friends that Max has been through painful memories. Cody looked at Frankie and asked, "Since what?"

"Yeah, I probably shouldn't tell you guys about his past. It's kinda painful for him to mention it." Frankie said, chuckling nervously.

"Too serious?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's cool. You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Jojo said.

A couple of minutes later, Marcus, Jonah, Cyrus, Travis, Sam and Hawk all sat down in the table with Jojo and company. Jojo greeted them with a smile and they greeted back. Marcus looked at Frankie and asked, "Who's he?"

"This is Frankie Bridges. Frankie, this is my other friend, Marcus and my brothers, Jonah, Sam, Cyrus, Travis and Hawk."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Frankie replied.

"Where'd he come from?"

"Group home." Jojo replied.

"Foster care?"

"Yep."

"Where's your parents?" asked Hawk.

"They died." Frankie said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Jonah said.

"Thanks. It's been hard on me since then and I always felt so alone and I never had any friends until I met Max. He seems cool and well, he's been through a lot."

"How so?"

"I shouldn't tell you that."

"Why?"

"Marcus."

Jojo looked at Marcus for a while and Marcus sees a look that it was something serious and that he shouldn't mention it and nodded his head in understanding. Sam asked, "Did you ever want a family?"

"Well, I hope to be adopted, but I kinda don't think I'm capable of having two parents, because it's too soon for me."

"What about Max?"

"Same thing. Only his is way more different than mine."

"My parents would take you in." Mike said.

"They would?"

"My mom has told us that she and my dad would consider adoption if necessary."

"I wouldn't want to impose. I don't want to be the burden of your shoulders."

"Hey, it's no burden at all. To our friends, they're like family to us." Cody said.

"You sure?"

"Of course."

"Would we ever lie?" asked Mike.

"Guess not."

Suddenly, Frankie sees Max walking by with his lunchbag and waved his hand. Max looked at Frankie's hands and walks over to them, but before he could even make it there, he tripped and fell down on the floor. When that happened, everyone else in the cafeteria started laughing at him. Max gets himself up and picks up his lunchbag, then looked at the jocks, just laughing and Eric said, "Watch where you're going!"

"Or else Eric will be a big splash on your face!" the other jock said.

Max scowls at them and walks away. Feeling embarassed, he retreats to another lunch table and sits there alone. Frankie sighed heavily and went in to Max's table to comfort him. When he got there, he sees his head down on the table and asked, "You okay, Max?"

Max said nothing and then turns to Frankie and sees his eyes tearing up and tears almost going down his face. Frankie told him, "Come sit with me and my new friends."

"Will they pick on me?" asked Max, tearfully.

"Of course not."

He gave some second thoughts about it, but looking at Frankie, he realizes that he's really honest and grabbed his lunchbag and walked with Frankie and headed back to the table. He sat towards Frankie and most of the others. Max stared at them and looked scared, but then he recognized Jojo and said, "Hey, I know you. Aren't we in first period?"

"Yeah. Hey, Max."

"Hey, Jojo."

"You guys know each other already?" asked Frankie.

"Yeah, this morning."

"Well, Max. These are my other friends-Seth, Austin, Cody, Mike, Zeke, Noah, Marcus and Dustin and these are my brothers, Jonah, Cyrus, Travis, Hawk and Sam."

"You guys won't pick on me, right?" asked Max, nervously.

"Why would we do that?" asked Cyrus.

"Well, most times at the group home, when I would make new friends one day, the next, they turn on me and bully me at times, both at group home and at different schools."

"Why would they torture you for?" asked Cody.

"Cuz of the way I look, the way I dress, the type of music I listen to, everything."

"I kinda feel the same way. Believe me, I know what that feels like." Jojo said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. But I would never get to me at times, not when you have friends who always have your back."

"It's pretty much what we do." Hawk said.

Suddenly, Caitlyn and Misty came in and sat down at the table with them. Mike groans and said, "Look who got invited, it's beauty and the Misty-rious beast."

Misty scoffs and said, "I would ignore that comment, Michael."

"Do not call me Michael, please."

"Okay, Michael."

Mike groaned heavily and tells Frankie, "This is what happens when your someone ugly turns in the picture."

"Misty, Caitlyn, these are our new friends, Max and Frankie. They live in a group home." Jojo said.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Caitlyn said.

"Same here." Misty said.

"You too." Max said.

"So, how'd you guys got into a foster home?" asked Misty.

"Long story."

"Be careful, Misty will try to knock the answer out of you." Mike said.

"Shut up, Mike. What personal experiences they had is their business."

"Thanks...I think." Frankie said.

"You'll like Whoville High School a lot." Jojo said.

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Was that awesome or what? And I would be heartless to see what group home is like for Frankie and Max. So, check out chapter three!


	3. Life at Group Home

I'm back! Here's the dynamics of group home. And there's a little dark side of Max lke you've never expected to know.

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Chapter 3: Life in Group Home

Later that afternoon, Max and Frankie were in a group home, near downtown Whoville called 'Whoville Open Arms: Foster & Group Homes'. As they came in, they were in their rooms and started doing their homework. After that, Max looks at a picture of his parents from his birth. He sighs heavily and feels betrayed and hurt at the same time, because of how they treated him several years before.

Frankie sees Max getting teary-eyed while looking at the picture and reflected on that day when he got tripped back at high school. He walks over to Max and asked, "You okay?"

Max sniffled a little and answered, "Yeah."

"What are you thinking now?"

Max wiped his eyes and said, "I don't know why they never wanted me."

Frankie sighed exasperatedly and asked, "Can't let it go, huh?"

"Everytime I look at them, I get so angry all the time, because I don't know why they gave up on me. What did I even do?"

"You didn't do anything, Max."

"I know, but I still don't understand. Like why would they even think about not wanting me anymore."

"Like what?"

"I wish I knew. Last I remember, my parents never really wanted me around, because I was such a burden to them."

"You think that might be it?"

"I know for a fact. Something happened to my mom and dad and they were acting so mean towards me, but my dad beat me down every single time. That much I can remember."

"I know, Max. You've told me that before."

"And every night, I would always have nightmares about him coming back for me and just take me away."

"I heard you scream every night. The entire group home heard you scream all the time."

Max bit his lip and looked severely bitter and said, "I can't let this thing go, Frankie. Everytime I try to get over it, it will never go away. It feels like I'm alone, you know?"

"You're not alone, Max. You have me, remember?"

"Easy for you to say. Your parents died while mine left me behind for no reason at all."

"But at least we have each other. You're like the brother I never had."

Max turned away for a while and sighed heavily. Then, he looked at Frankie and asked, "You think so?"

"Trust me. I hope a family will adopt us soon."

Frankie walked off for a while to walk around the hallways while Max stayed at said, "So do I..."

A few minutes later, out of nowhere, some of the foster kids came over to the room and threw water balloons at Max, leaving him half soaking wet. They were laughing at him and Max wanted to chase after them, but it was no use. He broke down in tears and started crying on the wall. Frankie slowly walked towards Max and puts his hand on his shoulder for comfort.

"They did it again?" asked Frankie.

Max sniffled and said, "It was different this time. They used water balloons."

"Water balloons? Really?"

"Uh-huh."

"I'll be right back."

Frankie went outside and caught them filling up more water balloons. As soon as they got them filled, they were surprised to see Frankie standing there. The two-one with orange and brown striped fur, 140 pounds, 5'5, 16 years old, hazel eyes, wearing a sports purple jersey and some dark blue pants, with brown hair and with a nose and mouth piercing and another one with brown and blue striped fur, blue eyes, 145 pounds, brown eyes, 5'6, 16 years old, wearing a brown T-shirt and light blue jeans and dark midnight hair-looked surprised when he stood there.

"Really, guys?" asked Frankie.

"Yep. We caught Max and me and Nate thought we might get him again."

"Hector, you guys need to stop picking at Max."

"Why should we?" asked Nate.

"You know for a fact that the caretaker is watching you."

"Oh, please. Like she would ever find us doing it." Hector sneered.

"She did put up some security cameras all around the house."

"We'll aim it at them."

"Look, guys. Either stop or you'll get a meet and greet with Brass and Chain."

"Your knuckles won't stop us."

"No, but I might."

All of a sudden, there was another who-149 pounds, 5'8, 16 years old, blue eyes, has black hair with red bangs, black and grey striped fur, wearing a black and grey striped hoodie, with a blue and black striped T-shirt and some dark blue jeans-coming in to stop things.

Once Hector and Nate see it's him, they quickly fled the scene. Frankie looks at the guy and said, "Even I tried to do that."

"I have to bend them to my will."

"Thanks, Hoagie."

"No probs, Frankie."

"How's Josh?"

"Fine, I guess. How's Max?"

"What do you think?"

"True."

Suddenly, it's dinnertime and everyone had pizza for dinner. Everyone went through several slices for pizza. Max and Frankie sat next to each other while Hoagie and Josh sat in front of them in another section. Josh-male, 15 years old, black and brown striped fur, 5'2, 143 pounds, dark midnight hair with red and blue bangs, wearing a red and blue striped T-shirt, dark blue jeans and wears a bracelet on his wrist that says 'Stronger'- looked at Max and asked, "Heard Nate and Hector were at it again."

"Yeah, they did."

"Can't believe these guys did it to you again."

"Why are we talking 'did it again'? Those dudes have been bugging him since he was seven." Frankie said.

"So, how was that Whoville school?"

"Pretty awesome. We were hoping that this might be the school we could stay in."

"Do you guys know that it's only temporary?" asked Hoagie.

"Yeah, I know. But I hope someone can adopt me and Max so we could be close with our new friends."

"Tomorrow's my first day there. Hopefully, we might stay there too."

"You guys made friends there?" asked Josh.

"Yep." Max said.

"How they treated you?"

"Okay, I guess."

A couple of hours later, Max went back to their room and just looked out the window and look at the stars and thought about his family. He feels a small amount of resentment for what they did to him and felt that the only way to express his emotions is through guitar. He picks up his guitar from under his bed and plays a little song. As he strums his guitar, he just thinks about what would it be like if he would be adopted. After a couple of minutes, he stops and puts it back, then lies down on the bed and let one tear roll down on his face.

"Heard your guitar. Sounds really good." Frankie said, coming in the room.

"Yeah, thanks." Max said.

"Don't worry, buddy. I'm sure tomorrow will be better."

"I hope you're right."

"Of course, Max. I'm your best friend. Remember that, okay?"

"You're my only best friend."

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Was that sad or what? I feel so sorry for Max! Stay tuned for more!


	4. Another Day at School

Here's how the gang adjusts life in Whoville High School.

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Chapter 4: Another Day at School

The next morning, Max was walking towards Whoville on the way to Whoville High and on the way, he loses focus on where he's walking by as the memories of his parents began to consume him. Without warning, he bumped into someone and they both tripped and fell on the sidewalk.

"Watch where you're going, will ya?"

Max looked at the person and realized that it was Marcus. He looked at him with nervousness and said, "Sorry, Marcus."

Marcus recognized Max's face in a quick glance and he helped him up and told him, "Nah, sorry I snapped at you."

"I mean, I didn't watch were I was going."

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not ticked at you."

He looked at Marcus and sees that he's smiling and he asked, "You sure?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"No...I guess not."

Max picks up his bag and continued walking. Then, Marcus said, "Hey, you need a buddy?"

Max froze and then turns around and asked, "You want to walk to school with me?"

"Yeah, why not?"

He lightens up and said, "Okay."

Marcus caught up with him and continued walking together. He asked, "Where's Frankie?"

"Well, he kinda overslept and he told me that he'll be along in a minute. I usually don't go anywhere without Frankie around."

"You guys are really close, aren't you?"

"Real close, kinda like brothers."

"How long have you been in foster care or group home?"

"Since I was 6."

"Did you meet Frankie there?"

"Yeah, we kinda did. We first met and Frankie shared a room with me when I first came there and we became friends after that and he's been looking out for me."

"That's good to know."

"Where did you meet Jojo?"

"Long story, dude. We both met at Camp Harmony this past summer. At first, I didn't like him, because he was kinda new there and I had some issues with my family about moving here, but when he told me that he lived in Whoville-where my family moved to-, it kinda dawned on me that maybe it won't be so bad after all and both fathers of ours have the same embarassing personality. We became friends after that and I ended up living in a few houses from where Jojo is."

"Where's that?"

"Fairfax Aparments, Apartment 12-R."

"Where's Jojo's?"

"Apartment 12-J."

"Might drop by sometime."

"Coolio."

All of a sudden, water balloons were thrown at both of them and both Nate and Hector were looking at them, getting soaked and both of them burst out laughing. Hector said to Max, "Here's a little gift on your first day of school!"

"Yeah, you are so pointless." Nate said, laughing.

Both of them walked by as they were high-fiving each other and continued laughing. Marcus got some water in his hair and asked, "Who are they?"

"That's Nate and Hector. The 'bullies' in group home."

"No kidding. They always to that to you?"

"Every single day."

Suddenly, Max received a text and then, which came from Nate, and reads, 'We're headin' to the same school as you and Frankie, so watch your back!'

He groaned nervously and Marcus took a look at the text and said, "Don't worry. These guys don't know what they're in for. I can promise you that."

"You'll protect me?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I'm kinda used to Frankie defending me, so I don't know."

Marcus puts his hand on Max's shoulder and said, "Hey, as long as you're with me or Frankie, everyhing's cool."

"Hey, sorry I'm late!"

Both looked up and saw Frankie coming by. Max asked, "What took ya?"

"Had to get ready, brushed my teeth, got my stuff and here I am."

"What about breakfast?"

"Didn't have enough time, so I got some pop-tarts on the go."

"What's up, Frankie?" asked Marcus.

"Hey, Marcus. How's it hanging? You guys soaking wet?"

"A little bit."

"Nate and Hector?"

"Who else?" asked Max.

"I heard they're coming to school with us."

"Great."

"Well, don't worry. My friends Brass and Chain will take care of them for ya."

"It's nice that you want to help me, but I don't want to come between you guys defending me."

"We'll both defend you." Marcus said.

"I've always stuck up for you, right? So, if me and Marcus will help you, we'll help you with whatever we can." Frankie said.

"Thanks, guys."

Suddenly, in comes Mike and Cody on their skateboards, greeting Marcus, Frankie and Max. Mike said, "What's up, guys?"

"Not much." Frankie said.

"Headin' to school?"

"Yep."

"Wonder which class we'll go to?" asked Max.

"Who knows."

Then, Josh and Hoagie came with them as well. Max looked up and said, "Hey, how's it going?"

"Just heading to school with you guys." Josh answered.

"Whoville High?" asked Marcus.

"Yep."

"Marcus, Mike, Cody, these are our friends-Josh Salivdar and Hoagie Young. They're in group home as well."

"Nice to meet you." Cody said.

"Same here." Hoagie answered.

"We told our parents about you and they were open to the idea of adoption." Mike said.

"Really?" asked Frankie.

"Yep. They told me and Cody they'll consider it, because they want to take anyone in."

"I hope so."

"All we have to do is just bring you guys over to our place for a while." Cody said.

"That'll work."

As soon as they came to the school, by the entrance, they're cornered with Eric and his posse. Max looked terrified to see their faces, but Marcus told him, "Just don't look at them."

Eric spots them and said, "Hey, emo-turds!"

Then, he spits on Max's face as the high school jocks began laughing at them. Marcus looked at them and said, "Why don't you guys just back off?"

"Why don't you make me?"

"I can arrange a meeting with Brass and Chain if you want. So either step away from us or my fist will make a rendevous with your face. Pick your choice." Frankie said.

Then, Hoagie comes in and said, "I have a suggestion-you ever had been squeezed before?"

"No."

"You will if you mess with Max again."

"Okay, we're out of here. Don't wanna get emo germs."

The gang walked off and Hoagie asked, "How do you guys deal with these morons?"

Marcus sighed heavily and answered, "Not that easy."

Later on, Max and Hoagie went to first period where both of them sat near Jojo. Jojo looks up and sees Hoagie there. Hoagie looks at Jojo and waves at him and Max said, "Hoagie, Jojo. Jojo, Hoagie."

"How's it going?" asked Hoagie.

"Pretty good." Jojo answered.

"We're in group home."

"Second day of school, huh?"

"For me. It's Hoagie's first day." Max said.

Cody comes in with Zeke and Noah and greeted each other. Zeke and Noah got introduced by Hoagie as they sat in different rows. Jojo notices Max's hair is a little soaked. He asked, "Should I-?"

"You don't wanna know." Max replied.

"Got it." he whispered.

A couple of hours later, they all met up in the cafeteria together as everyone got to know each other pretty well. Marcus asked Hoagie, "So, how long were you in group home?"

"5 years." Hoagie replied.

"And you, Josh?"

"6 years. I was about 9 when I got here."

"Looks like you guys have been through a lot." Mike said.

"And you're how old, Josh?" asked Jojo.

"15." Josh replied.

Later, Caitlyn, Misty, Austin, Seth, Chad, Dustin, Jonah, Hawk, Cyrus, Sam and Travis came in and sat with them in the table. Caitlyn said, "Hey, we've got some newbies."

"And unfortunately, here comes the old-bie." Mike said.

Misty scoffed and rolled her eyes at Mike and said, "Don't hate me because I'm awesome."

"Just did."

"Guys, this is Josh Saldivar and Hoagie Young. This is Misty, Caitlyn, Seth, Austin, Chad and Dustin. These are my brothers Jonah, Travis, Sam, Cyrus and Hawk." Jojo said.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Josh.

"Welcome to Whoville High." Seth said.

"Where you guys from?" asked Austin.

"Group home." Hoagie replied.

"Same place as Frankie and Max?"

"Yep."

"Wow. How long have you guys been there?"

"For me, 5 years. Josh, 6 years. We're been in foster care for years, so. I think I'm starting to like it here, but unfortunately, we'll only be here a short time, cause we'll be transferred to another high school."

"That'll be devastating." Jonah said.

"Has anyone took you in yet?" asked Caitlyn.

"Not yet, but we're hoping."

"You know, my mom had worked with kids with foster care and she would want to adopt them and give them an awesome life as possible." Marcus said.

"Does she really?" asked Josh.

"Yep. I can tell them about you guys and we can go from there."

"I hope so."

Then, suddenly as if out of nowhere, Nate walks past behind Max and grabs his head and slams it on his face where the pizza is. Nate laughed hysterically as he walked away and said, "Good look for you, pizza face!"

Max slowly raises his head up with pizza sauce and cheese on his face. Jojo gives him a napkin and he furiously wipes it off his face. He looked extremely upset and said, "Why won't they just leave me alone?"

"Who are they?" asked Caitlyn.

"Nate and Hector. They're the troublemakers in our group home. They torment almost everyone, but mostly me."

"Mostly you, why?" asked Hawk.

"Cuz I'm small, wimpy and I'm an emo-freak. They always pick on me because of the way I am."

"And yet, you just...let it happen?" asked Misty.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't fight them."

"Well, the next time they hurt you, they will be sorry if they ever messed with a nice guy like you!"

"Thanks for helping, but I can deal with it. It's my problem. I don't want you to get mixed into it, because...they'll pound you easily. I've seen them do it to girls in the group home and most of them are like 6-11."

"Guess they're gonna deal with me. I'm 15 and if they take me down, I'll take them down back!"

"Hey, Misty. I can handle them. I'll have my knuckles do the talking." Frankie said.

"Your knuckles?"

"Brass and Chain. Anyone disrepects my friend, they'll deal with my partners-which are my fists."

"Okay, but if it doesn't work out, let me know before of after the event."

Max sighed and said, "Okay."

"They always pick on Max and they've been doing it since Max first entered the group home." Hoagie said.

"You guys saw him getting tormented?" asked Cyrus.

"Yup."

"Why didn't you guys stop him?"

"I wasn't there at that time until my parents died in a car crash. After being in the group home, I witnessed Max getting beat up by Nate and Hector. Being as the only kid of the bunch, I had to learn how to stick up for others, so I used one weapon-kung-fu. I flipped both of them and told them that if they ever messed with this kid again, I was gonna use my kung-fu attacks towards both of them."

"I would've stepped in, but I figured it's their business, so I didn't stop them." Josh said.

"You would've stopped them." Misty said.

"I watched the little guy got beat up that day and they tormented him for 2 hours."

"2 hours? Are you freaking serious?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Like stop them or tell somebody or something."

"I was gonna step in until Hoagie stopped them himself when he first came here. And it kinda dawned on me that next time I see Max get tormented by these hooligans, I'll stop them too and I have. Frankie does most of the work, but I protected Max for Frankie."

"And I appreciate that wholeheartedly." Frankie said.

Eric walked past them and looked at Jojo and said, "Hey, McDodd. The Stupid Dad Store called. They want your dad back."

Everyone of the jocks laughed hysterically and they walked off. Jojo was seething a little and said, "When will they ever cut me a break, at least?"

"Those two will never leave you alone, will they?" asked Misty.

"Nope."

"They need a wake-up call of their own."

"How come they were talking about your dad?" asked Frankie.

Jojo sighs and said, "You have no idea what it's like to have a dad that can totally embarass you and then pressure you into doing something for him that you know that you can't do it, but you're afraid you'll disappoint him."

"Has that always happened?" asked Josh.

"All the time."

"It's been heavy on him all the time and it's hard on all of us, because we've been a part of his family for pretty much five months and we watch him go through stuff like this." Jonah said.

"Whoa, you're not kidding." Chad said.

"I wish I was."

"Serious stuff."

"So, Frankie, Max. You guys feel like you're up for being adopted?" asked Cody.

"We hope so, but at the same time, we're kinda afraid." Frankie answered.

"Afraid of what?"

"Three reasons-One, what if they don't like us? Two, We don't want to be separated and third, what would happen if I get adopted and Max doesn't? I can't leave Max behind."

"You don't have to leave Max behind. He can come with too, even though you guys aren't related."

"When you have good friends, everything will be smooth sailing." Marcus said.

"I hope you're right."

"I might get used to this place." Hoagie said.

"You will."

"Just as long as Mike doesn't cause you any trouble." Misty said.

"Misty will start it first." Mike responded.

Misty laughed sarcastically and said, "I forgot how to laugh."

"Are you guys sure you're not boyfriend and girlfriend?" asked Max.

Mike and Misty looked at each other and both groaned in utter disgust. Mike responded, "No way! Are you kidding?"

"I wouldn't be his girlfriend even if he tried to impress me." Misty said.

"Now you both agree on something." Austin said.

"Which is?" they both asked.

"You're not in love."

"Who asked you?"

"Just making a point."

Jojo chuckled and said, "When you guys get adopted, this is what you'll see."

* * *

This was awesome! Anyways, next chapter...Max's dark side comes in full bloom with some news of his that's gonna be slightly angsty. Just trust me, it'll be great!


	5. Tragic News

Told ya'll this could be angsty!

* * *

Chapter 5: Tragic News

As soon as Hoagie, Josh, Max and Frankie made it back to group home, the caretaker-green and brown striped fur, 5'6, 167 pounds, 38 years old, has dark black hair, brown eyes, wears a plaid striped sweater and khaki pants-came over to the boys. Hoagie looked at her and said, "Ms. H. Why so down?"

Ms. H sighed heavily and said, "I need to speak to Max for a while."

Max felt totally nervous about it and Frankie asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know."

He followed behind her to her room and he asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Well, you may want to sit down for this one."

Max felt like he was in trouble for something, so he sat down on the bed while Ms. H sat next to him. He asked, "Did I do anything?"

"No, Max. You didn't do anything. It's about...your parents."

Max's heart sank when he heard it and said, "I...I-Is there something wrong?"

Ms. H was silent about it and she only nodded her head. He sighed heavily and nervously and then he asked, "Are they at least coming back for me?"

That question definitely hit her deeply and she didn't respond at all. She only closed her eyes and lowered her head down and whispered, "No."

Max quivered and seemed a little upset about this and asked, "Why aren't they coming back?"

Ms. H sighed heavily and then, turns to Max and said, "They were dead."

Silence filled the air and the expression on Max's face was one of shock, disbelief and also deep anguish. He blinked several times and asked, "When?"

"3 years after they dropped you off here."

Max was completely grief-stricken when Ms. H broke the news to him. He puts his hand on his chest as if to feel as if his heart is breaking. His eyes got all misty-eyed and one tear fell from his face. Ms. H puts her hand on Max's shoulder and whispered, "I'm so sorry, Max."

She hugged him tightly as Max started crying. Then, he asked, "Why did they leave all this time?"

"I wish I knew, Max. I wish I knew."

He lets go of her and thought of the worst case scenario and asked her, "They never loved me, didn't they?"

"Max, they never said that. Please believe me when I told you that they had some issues with themselves."

"Then what is it?"

"They were...into drugs."

Max didn't believe that for a second and thought she was lying and asked, "And you knew about this?"

"Yes, but-"

"Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because you were too young to understand what those things even were! I had to wait until you were older so you would understand the truth!"

He panted heavily and then whispered, "This is all my fault."

"No, Max."

"If I hadn't have stopped them, I would've-"

"Max, there was nothing you could do. Please, Max-"

She tries to reach out to him, but he runs out of the room, bursting in tears. Ms. H sighed heavily and really felt sorry for him because of that news. Frankie slowly walks in and asked, "Ms. H? You okay?"

"I don't know anymore, Franklin." she responded, tearfully.

Max then raced back to the room, slammed the door, went to his bed and took the picture of his parents, looks at it, felt a sense of anger coming down on him and he screamed loudly and just threw it down on the ground with little glass breaking out and then, rips the whole picture into pieces and lays there in the bed and continues sobbing hysterically. He then, looks at another picture of his parents and throws it on the other side of the wall and on the floor and just sat there on the edge of the bed, with his head lowering down to his knees and continues crying. Frankie opens the door and sees Max in complete hoplessness as he continues crying hysterically. He slowly walks up to him and asked, "Are you okay?"

He puts his hand on Max's shoulder as he continues crying. Max then asked, "Why would they just leave me behind and I didn't even know it?"

Frankie sighs heavily and felt completely lost for words and replied, "I...can't answer that one for you."

"I thought that they would come back for me, but they're not."

Frankie doesn't know what to say about it and then he told Max, "It's not your fault. It's not even your parents' fault."

"How would you know?"

"My parents died in a car crash and they were killed by a drunk driver. I was only three, so I didn't know that much. But I know it wasn't my fault. I only had a few scrapes, but I was okay. My parents-not so much. It has been hard on me since then until I met you. I defended myself without them and took care of myself without them and I promised myself that if I were to take care of someone who's been down in the dumps about this tragedy, I would do so and I kept that promise. But you have to know that what your parents did didn't mean they didn't love you. They just had some problems in their life and they tried to get better, but it failed. But please believe me, Max. It wasn't their fault nor was it your fault."

Max looked at Frankie and wiped his tears and told him, "Frankie...they left me because I was a burden to them."

"You're not a burden. Is that why you would never talk about this?"

"Yes, Frankie."

Frankie looked at Max and realized that this was something that he wanted to know, but couldn't. Frankie then said, "Well, it's not too late."

"I don't know if I can."

"Can you try?"

Max sighed heavily and then told him the whole story. He said, "After I was born, my parents were kinda and happy. I was the only kid who had half of a childhood, but then when I was three, I was too much to deal with. There was something wrong with my mom and dad and somehow, they were arguing, fighting, screaming and everything and all the focus was on me, because of the fact that I added their stress level to go up. A year later, they were acting like monsters and they scared me completely. It was really bad. And then, they locked me in a closet for an hour and a half until someone heard me scream. They told me that I was the reason for their burden and troublesome and I was only five. It was dysfunctional and we couldn't get along with anyone and I would get abused, beat down, slapped, spat at, made fun of and they were showing me cruelty towards me. At kindergarten, I would get beaten up and made fun of because of who I am and it got so worse, that I would often break down and cry or get sick that brought me to the point where I threw up. Then, they told me they didn't want to see me anymore because of their behavior so they sent me here. Just dropped me off and left me here in the rain and they never even came back. I thought they would, but I guess they didn't and I hated them for that."

Frankie was stunned to hear that and asked, "Just because they were a burden doesn't mean you actually are."

"I am. If I would've done something to change it, I would've."

Frankie held on to Max and gave him a hug. He said, "There was nothing that you could do."

Max cried into Frankie's shoulder as the tears fell down. Frankie whispered, "It's gonna be OK."

"I don't know what to do anymore." Max said, tearfully.

"Just know that you have me, okay?"

They continued hugging unaware that Jojo was watching the whole thing from a fire escape there. He slowly climbed into the window and came towards both Frankie and Max. Frankie looked up and saw Jojo there, standing next to them. He then whispered, "I'm sorry to hear about your parents, Max."

He gave Max a hug as well and he whispered, "Thank you, Jojo."

Frankie joined in too and all three of them were hugging each other, each giving comfort to Max.

* * *

I feel sorry for Max. Stick around for more!


	6. Comforting Arms

A little rely on friends scene here...

* * *

Chapter 6: Comforting Arms

Hours later, Max sat down on the front of the porch in the group home, looking depressed and introverted over the tragic news earlier that day. He felt like it was his fault for letting all this happen, though it really wasn't his fault. He sighed heavily and just lowered his head down towards his knees with his hands on his head. Just then, Marcus walked past the group home, then stopped for a second and saw Max there. He quietly got up the steps and puts his hands on Max's shoulders. Max looked up and saw Marcus standing there next to him.

"Jojo told me about what happened to your parents. I'm really sorry." Marcus said.

Max sniffled and Marcus recognized some tears coming down on his face and he realized that he had been crying. Max wiped his eyes and said, "I just felt like this was my fault."

"What are you saying? Why didn't you tell us about this before? We've only known you since yesterday and there was so much about you that I never even knew."

"I don't know. I couldn't."

Marcus folded his arms and figured that Max is hiding something that he doesn't want to share with Marcus. He looked at him and said, "Just explain it to me. Don't shut me out."

"What do you want from me?"

"Max, please. Tell me what's up with you."

Max looked away for a bit and closed his eyes for a while and tried to keep it to himself. Then, Frankie comes out and said, "Max, it's OK."

He heard Frankie's voice behind him and then he opens his eyes, looks at Frankie and nods his head. Max took a deep sigh and said, "If you have time, I'll share it with you."

"That's all I needed to know." Marcus said.

Frankie, Marcus and Max sat down and told Marcus the whole story. After that, Marcus was surprised and also disturbed about what Max told him. Marcus looked at him and said, "I'm sorry that happened to you."

"It was horrible. Do you know what it's like to be abused by your own parents and the fact that you were the cause of their problems? That's why I'm afraid of being adopted, because I already put a strain on my parents. I don't want to do the same thing to another one."

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because once they see you for who you are, nothing else matters. What happened to your parents was not your fault."

"There were many times where Max cries himself to sleep every night even before he found out his parents were dead. I sorta had to comfort him and give him some peace, so he wouldn't feel alone anymore." Frankie said.

"Sounds like you got someone who looks out for you." Marcus said.

"Yeah, I know."

"So, what brings you by here?" asked Frankie.

"I actually came over to see this group home you guys have been in and Jojo texted me to check on Max and see how he's doing. Also, if you guys aren't busy, you can stop by Mike and Cody's place Saturday and hang out with them for a while."

"That'll be great."

"What about you, Max? They might consider you being a part of their family."

Max gave it some thought and responded, "I don't know..."

"Give it a chance, Max." Frankie said, as he puts his hands on Max's shoulders.

"Are you gonna be here?"

"I've always been by your side and I always will be."

Looking at Frankie, Max realizes that he's like the only brother he ever had and then, he sighed and said, "Okay, I will."

"Awesome."

Suddenly, Nate and Hector came out with water guns and squirted Frankie, Max and Marcus. They were screaming and sputtering water everywhere and Nate started laughing hysterically and Hector comes out and said, "You guys should've seen the look on your faces!"

Marcus was ticked and went in their faces and said, angrily, "How'd you like this look on this face? Why don't you guys grow up?"

"Who says?" asked Hector.

Then, Nate comes at Max and squirts his pants as if he had an 'accident' and then he laughed hysterically and said, "Can't hold your water, Max?"

That made Max horrified and he grew really upset and just completely went ballistic and shouted, "STOP IT! You've humiliated me for the last time!"

"Who freakin' cares? I can do whatever I want whenever I want!"

Max got so mad, tears came through his face and said, "You just don't know it's like to be tormented, even for someone like me! I refuse to put up with your crap every single day of my life for the last 9 years! I have had enough of you!"

He ran off inside the house and Nate said, "Yeah, run back to your room, crybaby!"

"Watch it!" Frankie said.

"You can't stop us, Frankie. We're invincible!" Hector exclaimed.

Then, the door opens and it's Hoagie and he said, "Why don't you guys beat it?"

"You can't tell us what to do!"

"Oh no? You want me to give you some huge knuckles or...I might tell Ms. H about this situation and everything you've done to Max?"

"Don't get us in trouble." Nate said.

"Then, I suggest you guys leave Max alone. He's been through enough already and he doesn't need you to add to it."

"Fine. We'll go."

They both walked in the room and Hoagie exhaled sharply and puts his hand on his face in exasperation. He said, "It's a good thing I'm not a violent dude, because these are days like this where I just have to look at Nate and Hector and just kick their butts while they wet their pants."

Marcus and Frankie started laughing at that comment and Frankie said, "I don't blame you."

"Me too." Marcus said.

"So what brings you by?" asked Hoagie.

"To check on Max and Frankie, because Jojo told me about Max's situation and he heard the whole thing on your guys' fire escape and Mike and Cody invited him and Frankie to come to their house Saturday, because they're really considering taking them in."

"You think their parents might like us?" asked Frankie.

"Mike told me they were good at foster care before they had their first kid."

"Sounds awesome. I'm gonna check on Max. See you at school tomorrow?"

"Count on it."

"Tell Mike and Cody that we'll be there."

"Will do."

Later on, Frankie walks upstairs to check on Max for a while and when he got there, he heard Max crying again. He slowly opens the door and sees him lying down on his bed, just sobbing uncontrollably over that situation with Nate. He walks over to him and said, "You okay, Max?"

"Every single time. Every single time I have to deal with this every day. Don't they know when not to torture me when I'm having a hard time?" said Max, tearfully.

"Hey, I understand. Hoagie scared them away."

"How?"

"An ultimatum-either Hoagie was gonna beat them up or tell Ms. H about what just happened."

"And what happened?"

"They walked away. Because if Hoagie had intimidated them, the only thing they would do is wet their pants."

Max chuckled softly and then, wiped his eyes a little. Frankie reaches out to Max and said, "Just think...when we get adopted, we'll always be together and we'll be actual brothers. And our new family will give us the full life we never had."

"I can only imagine."

"Think you might give it a shot?"

"I'll try."

"Awesome."

Hoagie comes in the room and checks to see how Max is doing. He smiles and said, "Dong good, Max?"

"I guess so."

"Good to hear. Chin up, little buddy. It'll get better."

"Think so?"

"Sure thing."

Hoagie winks at him and walks off. Frankie looks at Max and said, "He's a cool protector than me, but I digress."

Max starts laughing and said, "True, though."

"Let's eat, kid."

Both Max and Frankie went out of their rooms to join in for some dinner along with the other foster kids.

* * *

Nothing like friendship knowing someone's got your back. Stick around for more!


	7. Saturday Fun

A little fun with Mike and Cody.

* * *

Chapter 7: Saturday Fun

A couple of days later and it was Saturday, as Max and Frankie hang out in the front of the group home, just sitting around and talking. Then, all of a sudden, Mike and Cody came over with their skateboards, greeting them. Mike smiled and said, "What's up, dudes?"

"Hey, Mike, Cody." Frankie said.

"Heard about Max's past. We're really sorry."

"It's fine." Max replied.

"Wanna come with us?" asked Cody.

"Where?"

"Uh, to our house of course!"

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

Max and Frankie followed both of them, but Cody gives them two extra skateboards and some helmets and safety pads. Mike asked, "Which one of you knows how to skateboard?"

"I do." Frankie said.

Max kept quiet and Cody sees that Max has never been on a skateboard before. He gives the helmet and safety pad to him and said, "You may need it for your first time."

He reluctantly puts them all on and gets on the skateboard and tries to go for it. As Mike and Cody went with Frankie and Max, they have to teach Max how to skateboard along the way. Max looked nervous and asked, "How do you guys do this?"

"It's all about the balance, so if you fall, the safety pads will break your fall and prevent you with any scrapes, cuts or injuries." Cody said.

"And the helmet?"

"It'll keep you from having a head injury. Safety first." Mike said.

"Mike learned that one the hard way." Cody said.

"Oh, come on, dude. That was a big setback."

"Setback, my foot! One time when our brother Alex taught us to skateboard, Mike was already off and skating with a helmet. And as soon as he went too fast, he flew out of his board and fell down some steps in the park and landed on the ground. There was a slight bump in his head, but nothing serious."

"I was only 10. Don't hold it against me. Besides, it was a mistake."

"A mistake that could've been dangerous."

"Well, I know better now."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Just don't do what Mike did."

Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes and said, "Let's just keep going."

As soon as they arrived at their place, Mike and Cody followed Frankie and Max in and as they enter, their jaws dropped as they see their home is a big as ever.

"Whoa..." Frankie said.

"Are we in the right house?" asked Max.

"Yeah, this is it. Apartment 12-G. Looks awesome, right?" Cody said.

"Yeah, it is."

"Believe me, the fun only starts here. We've got a kitchen, living room (which we call the chillax room), 9 bathrooms, 7 bedrooms, a home theater room, arcade room, music room. How can it not be cooler?"

"I think I might love to live there." Frankie said.,

"Let me show you to my parent's room."

Mike and Cody went into their parent's room and looked around there. Mike said, "We don't go there a lot since they're not here, but if you look at this wall, in it are pics of every kid my parents fostered before they had us. They took care of them as if they were their own until Alex came along. They still help out along with their jobs so they taught us to give kids who are in foster care a good home, whereas you guys fit the bill."

"That's amazing." Max said.

"Yep. Cody gets creeped out about our parent's bathtub every single time."

"How?"

"A sign that said, 'Reserved for two lovers only'."

"That still gives me nightmares. Plus, I don't even want to know what's up in there. Onto the next room, please." Cody said.

They exited the room and headed for the basement, in which there's a theater room there. Max and Frankie gasped in amazement and had their breath taken away from this. Frankie chuckled and said, "Too much."

"You like?" asked Mike.

"You kidding? It's paradise like never before."

"But it gets cooler that that."

Max and Frankie followed them and went to the next room, which is the arcade room where there are tons of games.

"Wow."

"Wow is right." Max said.

Then, in every room they went, there's a basketball court, music room and also dance-floor room. As soon as they went upstairs, they showed them around Mike and Cody's rooms and also the guestrooms. Max and Frankie marveled at those rooms and Mike said, "What do you guys think?"

"This is pretty awesome." Frankie said.

"We just realized that there's two separate rooms." Max said.

"Yeah, they are, but not to worry. It comes with a bathroom and when you open the door, it leads up to the second guestroom." Cody said.

"This is pretty amazing."

"Would I give to live in a place like this." Frankie said.

"We hope so too. Anyways, you guys wanna have some fun with us?"

"Yep." they both said, in unison.

Within a few hours, they were snacking, playing some arcade games, dancing on the dancefloor room, played some serious basketball and also rocking out in the music room and they were laughing and having fun and then, they were watching movies. Later on, Mike and Cody introduced Frankie and Max to their parents when they came in the house.

"Hey, mom, dad." Cody said.

"Hey, son. How's it going?" asked Mr. McKinney.

"Pretty awesome."

Max and Frankie came over and Mike introduced them. He said, "Remember those guys I told you about? This is Frankie and Max. Guys, these are our parents."

"Nice to meet you both." Mrs. McKinney said.

"Same here." Frankie said.

"How long have you boys been in group home?"

"I've been there since I was three and Max has ben there when he was six and believe it or not, we've been through a lot together. My parents died in a car crash and I was in the car when I was three, but I was still alive. I was in group home for a long time and I was coping with the loss of my parents. Whenever I thought about them, it kinda made me feel a little sad and broken, but I can get through it a lot and the only way possible is to just let it all out. Let everything I had inside of me released."

"Sounds like you've been through a lot." Mr. McKinney said.

"Yeah. Then, I learned how to take care of myself, fed myself-though I had some help-, cleaned up after myself and defended others who have been bullied, because I was in that stage when I was five and it brought me to the point where I was in depression for a while, but as I got older, I defended myself and anyone else who was in that situation that I was in, because those who were my friends had been through enough problems as it is...and then I met Max. He's been through a lot of things that I never knew so much about and it was very disturbing."

"Let's hear your story."

Max sighed heavily and said, "Well, my parents dropped me off at group home when I was six and they didn't even want me. It was very dysfunctional and there were lots of anger, fighting, screaming and abuse every day and night. My parents were fighting constantly and it brought to the point where I was a burden to them, because they physically and emotionally abused me and they basically said that they hated me to my face. Like, they don't even love me anymore. So after I got dropped off, I felt like I was all alone until Frankie came around to defend for me. At first, I didn't need anyone, but when Frankie defended me and always been there for me, I just felt like I had to let my walls come down and let him in my life. I was holding a grudge against my parents for leaving me and I just found out that they had died three years after they left me behind and I never-never even knew it."

Max was suddenly in tears and Mr. McKinney comforted him by patting his back and he hugged him tightly. Mrs. McKinney felt sorry for Max and said, "I'm sorry you've been through that situation. It's gotta be hard on you."

"It has been. It has been tough for him and he's held his guilt for 9 years." Frankie said.

"9 years?" asked Mike.

Max nodded his head and Cody went in and said, "Dude, you need a serious hug."

He came over to Max and hugged him tightly. Max suddenly felt something he never felt before-like he was loved. He suddenly liked that feeling and never wanted to let it go.

"It's a good thing our boys thought about what they're doing. We taught them all to give love to another one in need and we're proud of Mike and Cody for that. We always considered adoption whenever it's necessary." Mr. McKinney said.

"When the boys thought that we'd be perfect as foster parents, we said that whenever they're in group homes or foster care, send them to us and we'll go from there and they have. I think you two might find a good home someday and that place is here." Mrs. McKinney said.

"You mean it?" asked Max.

"Yes, we do."

"We'll be your adopted parents and who would turn away from that job?" Mr. McKinney said.

"Told ya they'd jump in." Cody said.

Frankie and Max were about to head back to the group home and thanked Mike and Cody for letting them in their place. Mike said, "Need any help to take you guys back?"

"Yeah."

"Coolio. You guys are welcome here whenever you want."

"Thanks."

When they got back, they said their goodbyes and went about their separate ways. Later, Max looked at himself in the mirror and sees something he never saw before-he finally found a place where he's happy. Wherever Frankie goes, he's happy either way.

"Hey, Max. Had fun today?" asked Frankie.

Max smiled and said, "Yeah, we did."

* * *

Was that cool or what? Hope they adopt them. Up next, a vulnerable side of Hoagie. Laterz!


	8. Hoagie's Story

A side of Hoagie no one knows about.

* * *

Chapter 8: Hoagie's Story

The next day, Marcus, Mike, Cody, Zeke and Jojo all went to the group home to check on Max and Frankie and see how they're doing. Whey they walked into the room, they see kids running around and everything else. One look and Mike said, "So, this is what group home is like. Surprising."

Suddenly, Max walks around the room and sees the gang standing there. He was surprised to see them and said, "Hey, guys! What's up?"

"Hey, Max." Mike said.

"I didn't expect to see you guys here."

"Well, we only came to see how you and Frankie were doing." Jojo said.

"We're doing great, actually. Hey, Mike, Cody. Thanks for letting me and Frankie come by your place. It's awesome"

"You're welcome, buddy. My parents adore you guys so much so that they might come over in a few weeks and actually adopt you guys." Cody said.

"I hope so. I don't know what would my life would be like without Frankie around."

"He's like a best friend to you, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is."

Frankie walks downstairs to find Max with the rest of the gang. He chuckled and said, "Hey, what's up, guys?"

"Not much. Just coming by to visit you." Zeke replied.

"That's cool."

"How's Hoagie and Josh?"

"Josh is cool. Not sure about Hoagie."

"What about Hoagie?" asked Max.

"Well, I went to check on him this morning. He seems kinda...depressed."

"Depressed?" asked Jojo.

"It kinda looked like it."

"Maybe I can help." Marcus said.

"You think you can?"

"Absolutely."

"His room is upstairs, fourth door to the right."

"Thanks."

Marcus went upstairs to check on Hoagie to see how he's doing. Meanwhile, Frankie and Max decided to give the others a tour of the place. And while doing that, they see Josh playing some guitar outside. The others walk by to see Josh's guitar-playing and they were totally marveled by it. After he finished playing, Josh looks up and sees the gang in front of him, looking surprised.

"Hey, guys. How long have you been standing there?" asked Josh.

"Long enough, dude." Mike replied.

"You never told us that you play guitar." Jojo said.

Josh chuckled softly and then repsonded, "Well, you guys may be surprised. Plus, you guys never asked. Been playing guitar 8 years. Great way for me to express myself and emotions through my guitar."

"I think I have a guitar just like that." Jojo said.

"You have the same guitar as me?"

"Well, not really, but it's quite similar to it. Mine's a grey and black striped guitar."

"This one's grey and white striped."

"That's awesome."

Mike sighs and said, "This should take a while."

Meanwhile, Marcus went upstairs to find Hoagie's room and when he went to the fourth room to the right, he recgonizes Hoagie's handwriting on the front side of the door. He knocks on the door and he stands there, hoping to get a response from Hoagie.

"Yeah, come in."

He opens the door and sees that it's dark in there. Marcus walks in the room and sees Hoagie sitting on the edge of the bed. He clears his throat and asked, "You okay, Hoagie?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Something wrong?"

Hoagie sighs and said, "No, nothing's wrong."

Marcus could tell by his reaction that something was wrong with him. He sighs exasperatedly and said, "It's definitely something. Maybe I can help you with it."

"You wouldn't understand."

He puts his hand on Hoagie's shoulder and suddenly, Hoagie froze. As if he never felt this feeling before in his life. Marcus told him, "I would."

Hoagie looked at Marcus and decided to let him in on his little problem. With a heavy sigh, Hoagie finally comes clean about the whole thing. He said, "Sit down."

Marcus sits down on the floor as Hoagie starts spilling secrets about his life. He cleared his throat and said, "I have been in here for 5 years and during that time, I ran away from home, because of my dad. My mom died when I was 5 and since then, me and my dad never got along that much. Through most of my life, he's degraded me, puts me down and basically thinks I was the worst son ever to my face. He thinks I'm not like the other picture-perfect sons everywhere. He just pressures me to be like that, but I can't. And even when he gets home, he takes out his anger on me and resorts to beating me and throwing stuff on me and throws me down the stairs and everything. It was so bad."

Then, Hoagie lifts up his shirt and sees the scars all over his stomach and even on his backs. Marcus looked horrified at the sight of it and Hoagie even shows him some scars in his legs and one of the scars was a deep one.

"It was that serious?" asked Marcus.

"Very serious. Anyways, I decided that enough was enough, so I ran away from home when I was 10 and my dad never even cared about me at all, because he thinks I'll never amount to anything, because I'm not like all the other picture-perfect sons. After about 3 days, I went back home and there were ambulances, firefighters and police cars everywhere and I saw the house burn down in flames with my dad in it. He died pretty badly. On one hand, I felt like I could've helped him, but on the other hand, I didn't take being pressured in doing what he wants me to be and not long after that, I got put here into foster care. I felt like I was all alone and I relived that night every day and even when I'm asleep, I have nightmares about it and...you just don't know what it's like to feel alone all the time."

Hoagie's eyes were filled with tears after hearing this story. He sniffled and wiped his eyes furiously. Then, he continued with his voice breaking, "So, standing right there, it's like I belong there because this one is the best group home ever, because it was the first time I've been to Whoville. When I got here for the first time, I saw some bullies-Nate and Hector, of course-picking on this kid, which was Max, and I defended him. I learned how to defend my friends whenever they were in trouble or something, without my dad's help. So, I wanted to sort of put it into good use and just try to appreciate the friends or family in my life that I never had before, because Max and Frankie are like brothers to me and Frankie was the one who helped me out of it and I've been here ever since."

"I'm sorry that you've been through a lot." Marcus said.

Hoagie sniffled a few times as the tears fall down his face as he looked at a picture of his parents in their happy times when he was born. Marcus looked at it and asked, "Was that you?"

"Yeah. That was me...and how everything used to be. I'm always afraid that if I got adopted to a new family, it might not work so great and I'll end up coming back here. I just don't want to face loneliness again, because I've been through a lot and when I look at these guys here, it relates to me so easily. Most of them were traumatized and even some around here bully the other kids and most times, I've been bullied before because of the way I am. Sometimes, I wish for once they'll like me for me, including a new family."

Marcus puts his hand on Hoagie's shoulder and said, "I would accept you."

"You would?" asked Hoagie, tearfully.

"Yeah, I would. If you were my brother, I would accept you in an instant."

"You think so?"

"Trust me."

Hoagie smiled at Marcus and said, "You're a good friend, Marcus. Sometimes, I wished I had a friend like you."

Hoagie hugs Marcus tightly as Hoagie started crying. Marcus closed his eyes and then opened them and wished that there was something he could do to help. Marcus sighed heavily and said, "If there's anything I can do to help, I'm willing to do anything I can."

"Appreciate that." Hoagie whispered.

Suddenly, they heard a noise coming from outside. Marcus asked, "What's that sound?"

"I don't know."

They both stood up and found that the Josh and Jojo were playing guitar and just rocking out. Marcus chuckled and said, "Jojo's rocking it, isn't he?"

"So's Josh." Hoagie said.

They both looked at each other and both ran for the door and catching a glimpse of this and as they went outside, they drew a medium crowd and Jojo and Josh were just playing guitar and just rocking out like there's no tomorrow. When they come for the big finish, they end with a long, sustained punk-rock chord. The entire crowd cheered and applauded like crazy and so did Marcus and Hoagie.

"Guys, that was awesome!" Marcus said.

"Thanks." Josh said.

"What took ya so long?" asked Jojo.

"We were just conversin'." Hoagie said.

"About what?"

"Well, there's more to Hoagie that I found out."

Later on, Marcus explained Hoagie's past life and most of them felt surprised except for Josh, Frankie and Max. Mike said, "Man, that's rough."

"Isn't that sad?" asked Frankie.

"There's like this whole side of you that we never even knew." Jojo said.

"Marcus did a little coaxing to talk me into it, so I let him spill the beans." Hoagie said.

"Well, like Hoagie, this is the first foster home I went to and I was only 9 at the time and my parents didn't want me, so they dropped me off here. Since then, I just felt like they didn't want me anymore, because I was such a burden to them, because I wasn't the picture-perfect son they expected me to be." Josh said.

"That's gotta be rough." Zeke said.

"Very rough."

"Well, my dad is like that, only he wants me involved in sports. And I'm anti-sports. I'm more music, but he thinks it's for sissies and I totally disagree. He always judges me of the music I listen to, the way I look, dress. Nitpicks every little thing I do and it's not nearly 'good enough' for him."

"I didn't know that, Zeke." Max said.

"We would get into fights every single night and I was always a loner until Jojo came around and saw through me when I was invisible. You can't count a better friend than that."

Jojo smiled and said, "The both of us can definitely relate to it. We have a lot in common."

"You want to know worse? My dad is definitely judging, most likely to judge. He always seems to think I'm not the picture-perfect son. And I try to be, but it's hard because I'm just being me. It doesn't hurt, but to my dad, no matter what I do, it's not enough to make him accept me, so I just give up. He's not even the person who's into Christmas either, because he doesn't believe in all that and doesn't want me to celebrate it either, but I celebrated it anyway." Dustin said.

"I'm so sorry, Dustin." Hoagie said.

"Thanks. Just because we're emo, doesn't mean we can't be unliked by many. I wish for once people would swallow their stupid pride and accept us, for crying out loud."

"I agree."

"You know, guys? I think we're all in the same boat here." Cody said.

Suddenly, Jonah, Cyrus and Hawk came in and sees the gang together. Jojo looked at them and said, "Hey, what's up?"

"We're just walking by. Plus, we wanted to remind Jojo that dinner's about to be ready soon." Jonah said.

"I'm on my way. Gotta go, guys. See ya in school tomorrow?" said Jojo.

"Count on it." Mike said.

Jojo walked with Jonah, Cyrus and Hawk as they said their 'goodbyes' and walked home. Meanwhile, Mike, Cody, Zeke and Marcus did the same and went home. Hoagie stopped Marcus and said, "Thanks for letting me out of my shell."

Marcus smiled and said, "I appreciate you telling your story."

"I appreciate you listening."

"No problem."

* * *

Unexpected, right? Got two new characters in the next chapter, so stay tuned!


	9. Diego

There's some new characters I made and this character now...just read this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 9: Diego

Later at dinner, Max, Frankie, Josh and Hoagie sat around the table and got some dinner-spaghetti, steak and steamed vegetables and they were talking to each other. Max looked at Josh and asked, "Heard you and Jojo play guitar today. I thought that was awesome."

"Thanks, Maxie." Josh said, smiling.

"How come you never told me you can play an awesome instrument?"

"You never asked. I wanted to wait until you caught me playing in my room every night."

"That was you? I didn't know that."

"Like I said, you'd be surprised. There's a lot about me that you don't know."

Hoagie was munching some food on his plate and Frankie looks at Hoagie as he chows down some pasta. He chuckled softly and said, "Hungry, aren't ya, Hoages?"

"Yep. I have such a craving for spaghetti and pizza and Who-nut butter, cake. But I try not to like them too much." Hoagie said.

"Interesting..."

"You'd be hungry too if you're snacking."

"True. I'd only take one snack and that's it."

"So, Mike and Cody...what was their house like?"

"I wish you would've been there. It was super-awesome. Not to mention massive!"

"Yeah, they got everything there-a home theater room, arcade room, music room, the chillax room-which is the living room-, the whole shebang." Max said.

"Sounds like they've got a great place." Josh said.

"Yeah, they did. And their parents also helped many foster kids before they had kids. Kinda surprising when you think about it." Frankie said.

"Wow. Pretty awesome."

"Isn't it, though?"

Then, one who-male, 144 pounds, 5'4, 15 years old, dark midnight hair with a mohawk with green and blue bangs with and two fringes of hair covering his right eye, brown eyes, grey and black striped fur, wearing a dark brown T-shirt that says 'Misfits' and wearing dark blue jeans and has one earbud on his ear and has a bracelet on his wrist that says 'Friendship'-walks down the stairs and sat down with the rest of them and ate. Max looked at him and said, "Hey, Manny."

"Hey, guys. How goes it?" Manny asked.

"Just fine. Where were ya?"

"Sorry I was late. Kinda overslept and-"

"Overslept? At like 6:00 pm?" asked Josh.

"I take naps daily."

"You nap before dinner? That's kinda unheard of."

"Yeah, well your guitar playing kinda woke me up a little."

"Sorry, dude."

"It was like I heard two guys playing guitar."

"Guess what, Manny? There were two people playing guitar and ya missed an awesome performance." Hoagie said.

"Like, whatever, dude. I could've gotten here sooner if I hadn't have gotten a menacing glare from Diego."

"What's his deal, anyway? He seems like a angry dude here."

"I really don't know. Everytime I accidently bump into him, he just blows his freakin' top, grabs my neck and just scream at me. Even after that, he goes into his room and pounds a wall."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Max said.

"Of what?"

"I keep hearing him at night screaming and pounding on walls. Even when he looks at me, it's like a nightmare that I'm awaken to."

"Maybe he has some issues in his life." Frankie said.

Not long after, one foster kid-female, 13 years old, hazel eyes, 4'9, 136 pounds, orange and brown striped fur, has blonde hair with green bangs, wears a ponytail to the side, wearing a pink T-shirt with a blue top and some designer jeans-came over and sees everyone here and Max looked at her and said, "Hi, Camille."

"Hey, Max." Camille said, with a smile.

"You ran down the steps pretty quickly."

"Ya think? I'm trying to get away from Diego, because he has an involatile temper."

"What did he do this time?" asked Frankie.

"He just got all angry with me...over my Who-Pod."

"A Who-Pod? Really?"

"Yeah, he thinks some of the stuff I listen to is too punkish for a girl. I can listen to whatever I want. I mean, can you believe this?"

"I can barely believe it." Manny said.

"So, what's for dinner?"

"Spaghetti, steamed veggies and steak."

Camille chuckled excitedly and said, "You had me at steak."

Max offered a piece of steak to Camille and put it on her plate. She giggles and said, "Thank you, Max."

"You're welcome." Max replied.

"Somebody's got a crush!" Hoagie teased.

Max chuckled and said, "I'm just being a gentleman."

"Sure you are."

"I am."

"Oh, come on guys. It was sweet of Max to do that." Camille said.

"Leave Max alone, guys. If he says he's a gentleman, he's a gentleman." Frankie said.

"Okay, for your sake." Josh said.

All of a sudden, they hear footsteps coming from the stairs and in comes this big who-175 pounds, 16 years old, 6'2, blue eyes, dark midnight hair with red and green bangs with a spiky mohawk on the side, grey and black striped fur, wearing a dark blue T-shirt with a saying 'Keep Out' and dark blue jeans with a nose, mouth, lip and eyebrow piercings-coming in the room and most fo the younger kids left the room in fear and sat down at the table. Everyone else was silent and just kept eating, like not to make him more angry.

Frankie looked at Hoagie and whispered, "Diego's here."

"We can see that." Hoagie replied.

Diego got a plate and only picked up the steak and just munched on it. Camille groaned in disgust as she saw him devour the steak in one sitting. She rolled her eyes and said, "You ever heard of table manners before?"

Diego looks at Camille and responds, "You ever heard of shut your mouth before I shut it for you?"

"Where did I hear that before?" she asked, sarcastically.

"You want to cause some trouble?"

"Not really. I don't fight big guys. I'm a lady."

"Yeah, Lady Cuckoo!"

Camille was ticked off, but then kept her composure for a bit and sat herself down. She then said, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Diego looked furious and asked, "Compliment? I don't do compliments! Compliments suck!"

She ignored him and resumed eating. He snapped at her and asked, "Are you even listening to me?"

She kept eating and kept ignoring Diego for a while. Max was suddenly intimidated by his presence and gulps hardly. Then all of a sudden, Diego shifted his attention from Camille to Max and walked towards him and asked, "Did you gulp?"

Max let out one sweat-drop come out of his head and answered, timidly, "No..."

"Listen, you little punk. You disgust me. Just stay out of my way! And why are you sweating?"

"Diego, give Max a break, will ya?" asked Frankie.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"Can we just take a breather here, please?"

Diego groans exasperatedly and walks out of the room. He grabbed his plate and asked, "Thanks for making me lose my appetite!"

"Then why are you taking your plate?" asked Josh.

"None of your freakin' business!"

He walks off with the plate, heads to his room and slams the door hard. Max sighed in relief as Diego walked out. Camille looked at Max and asked, "You okay, Max?"

"For now."

"Even in his brutal sense, he makes Nate and Hector's bullying towards you look good." Hoagie said.

"Nate and Hector fear him a lot." Camille said.

"They do and they always take it out on me." Max said.

"Why would they do that?"

"Cause I'm what they think I am-small, wimpy and emo-freak. I can't help myself, you know? That's just the way I am."

"You're a good person, Max. Don't let them bring you down."

"Well, if it isn't Nerdio and Puke-iet!" Nate said, as he came in the room.

Max groans and said, "Not now, please."

Nate and Hector came in the room and both of them got on Max's face and Hector said, "Why should Camille care about you? You're more worthless than she is!"

"Uh, hello! I'm in the room! I can hear you, you know!" Camille said.

"Who cares?" asked Nate.

"Can you guys just leave me alone, for once?" asked Max.

"Maybe we don't want to."

Frankie clears his throat and said, "Want a face-full of pasta?"

"Get that crap away from me! Pasta makes me break out in hives!" Hector said.

"And it gives me gas!" Nate said.

"Then, keep walking!"

Nate and Hector both left and went to their rooms, leaving Max feeling way too distraught and covered his face with his hands. Camille reaches out and puts her hand on Max's shoulder and said, "Don't let those immature brainless wussies get to you, Max. For somebody, you'll be adopted and you won't have to deal with them anymore."

"Yeah, but there's gonna be another Nate and Hectors everywhere I turn. I just can't take being defenseless anymore."

Frankie puts his hand on Max's hand and said, "Don't worry. I got you."

"So do we." Josh said.

"Regardless if it's Diego, Nate or Hector, we'll stand by your side." Hoagie said.

"Thanks, guys." Max said.

Everyone resumed eating and then all of a sudden, 15 seconds later, they heard Diego shouting and pounding walls. Frankie chuckled and said, "Any more spaghetti?"

"Pass me some." Camille said.

"Hand me some of that garlic bread." Max said.

"Sure thing."

* * *

So, if you guys describe Diego in one word, what would it be? But it ain't the last you'll see of him.


	10. Diego, pt 2

Here's part two of this Diego dude.

* * *

Chapter 10: Diego, pt. 2

The next day, Max walks to school by himself while waiting for Frankie, Hoagie, Josh and Manny to catch up. Only 10 minutes in walking by, he hears someone following him. He didn't know who it was, but in his mind, he thought it was Frankie. He just sighed softly and kept walking. Then, the same footsteps come closer to Max and he just stops for a minute and turns around and sees that it's not Frankie. When he saw that it was Diego, fear crept into his mind and hopes that he won't cause trouble, so he just keeps walking, hoping not to get pummeled.

Diego walks by, unaware that Max is in front of him and he's just walking by with his Who-Pod, listening to heavy metal with one earphone on his ear and wore his hoodie. Max continued walking, quietly and tried not to make a sound, but wiith Diego behind him, he only increased his walking and walked faster. Diego suddenly sees someone walking quickly and suspects that it was Max. He got closer behind him and suddenly, he increased it into running. Diego ran as well and then, when he stopped, Max slowly looked behind him and saw Diego's face. He shuddered and tried not to say anything and then, he just walked away.

"MAX!" Diego bellowed.

Max stops and felt scared and then, he slowly walked towards him and asked, "Yes?"

He grabs him, gets on his face and said, with a menacing tone, "Stay...out...of...my...WAY!"

"Okay." Max replied, with a small voice.

He then drops him to the ground and takes off running, but Diego isn't done with him. He picks Max up by his knees and Diego said, "You know, you really aggravate me. You really do!"

"Please let me go! I don't want to cause any trouble!" Max pleaded.

"You've got trouble now, you little runt!" Diego screamed.

He pulled out his fist and punched him in the eye and threw him down on the ground and kicked him numerous times. Max started screaming and groaning in pain with every kick Diego gave him. All of a sudden, he receives a push on the ground as he fell on the corner. Max groans and looks up and it's Misty, coming in. Diego stands up and asked, "Who are you?"

"Who the heck are you, beating up Max?" asked Misty.

"You know this wimp?"

"This _wimp _happens to be my friend!"

"Do you even know who I am? Do you know who you're freaking dealing with? Do you?"

"Do you know who you're dealing with? How dare you pick on an innocent person? Hasn't he already been through enough?"

Diego scoffs and said, "I don't give a crap about this! Tell that midget to stay out of my way! I've got better things to do."

"Yeah, like what?" asked Misty.

"Heading to school so I pick on more wussies!"

With that, Diego walks off angrily and heads to school. Misty looked highly ticked at him as he walks off and then, picks Max up off the ground. She looked at him and asked, "You OK?"

"I think so." Max replied.

"You shouldn't have to deal with this jerk."

"I have to. He's in our group home."

Misty groaned exasperatedly and asked, "Another one?"

"Yes."

"Well, if he bothers you again, I'll make him sorry he ever dealt with Misty Brianne Kirkpatrick!"

"You don't know Diego. He'll crush your skull like a melon."

"He'll have to get through me first. Meet ya in school."

Misty walks off and Max sighed heavily and picks up his stuff as he heads on his way to school. Not long after that, he walks past Jonah and Hawk and just gave them a wave as they pass by. They caught up with him and Hawk asked, "Why so glum?"

"Nothing." Max replied.

"What's on your mind?"

"It's kind of a long story. I'll just tell you later."

When they got to the school, he sat on the steps for a while, waiting for Frankie, Josh, Hoagie and Manny to come with. 5 minutes pass and there they are, walking by the school and they see Max sitting there. Max sees them and waved at them and they waved back. Josh said, "Hey, Max. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing much. What took ya so long?" asked Max.

"Manny tried to get himself ready for school and he tried to put some highlights on his mohawk."

"Oh, come on. I gotta make a first impression." Manny said.

"First impression? Spending 15 minutes dying your hair isn't what I call 'first impression'." Hoagie said.

"It's a start."

Frankie recognizes a little scratch on Max's face and asked, "You look kinda...scratched up, Max. You fell or something?"

"Sorta. If being picked up and got a black eye adds up." Max replied.

Hoagie sighed and said, "Don't tell me, Nate or Hector?"

"Neither."

Manny knew who it could be and feared the most in his mind. He gulps and asked, "It's Diego, right?"

"Yeah. He kicked me and punched me in the sidewalk on my way here."

"Oh no."

"Did anyone save you?" asked Frankie.

"Misty did. She was tough too."

"It's a good thing she was there. Because if it was me, I'd knock him into next Friday." Manny said.

"Then, you wouldn't even live on Friday." Josh said.

"Just making a point here."

As soon as they came in the hallway, they see Diego walking down the halls of the school and when he passed Jojo, he immediately tripped on him and made him fall down on the floor. The rest of the class in the hall were laughing as Diego continues to walk by. Frankie, Max, Josh, Hoagie and Manny all reach in to help Jojo up. Hoagie asked, "You okay, Jojo?"

Jojo groans and replied, "I'm fine."

"Sorry about that."

Jojo looks back and sees Diego walking by the halls and asked, "Who was he?"

"That's Diego Maverick. He's been our group home for 8 years." Frankie said.

"How so?"

"This guy has serious anger problems. When he was 8, he ran away from home and never wanted to see his family again. Suddenly, his parents got killed in a car accident and it all went downhill from here. When he came here, he became a bully to anyone and took his anger out on anything. As he got older, his anger problems grew worse."

"How worse?"

"Well, he pounds on walls, shouts a lot, threatens most of the kids and even sometimes, beats everyone up. These days, his favorite victim is Max."

"That's horrible."

"I know, right?"

"I'm sure he won't torture another victim again."

"I would hold my tongue if I were you. There's no stopping him."

"I can see that now."

"I don't even know how he's in the same school as us." Max said.

"Neither do I."

"It's a mystery, I guess."

Josh sighed and said, "Well, hopefully we can move this out of the way and just live in the moment."

"What he said." Hoagie said.

Suddenly, Mike, Cody, Jonah, Hawk, Zeke, Noah, Dustin and Travis came over and Jonah said to Max, "We heard about this guy provoking you on the way here."

"Who, Diego?" asked Max.

"That's his name?"

"Yep. He has been provoking me."

"That sucks, dude." Mike said.

"He also lives in group home with us." Manny said.

"That's sick."

Jojo looks at Manny and asked, "What's your name?"

"Oh, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Manny Kingston."

"I'm Jojo McDodd and these are my friends, Dustin, Zeke, Mike, Cody and Noah. And my brothers, Jonah, Travis and Hawk."

"Nice to meet you guys." Manny said.

"Same here."

"First time here in Whoville High?" asked Dustin.

"Yeah, it is. Can you show me the ropes?" asked Manny.

"Of course."

Frankie looks at Jojo and said, "Manny's cool, once you get to know him."

"We'll see what happens. And about that Diego guy..."

"I don't think he'll be the least of our problems."

* * *

How angry is this dude? Stick around for more!


	11. Adjusting to a New School

Looks like Jojo's crew is expanding.

* * *

Chapter 11: Adjusting to a New School

Hours later, Jojo and the rest of the group ate lunch along and they start talking to each other. Mike said, "So then, I was like really looking forward to having a skateboard and once I rode it, there was no stopping me."

"Except when mom told you it was time for dinner after you rode that skateboard for a full three hours." Cody said.

"Hey, I would've gone for one more hour."

"Then, you'd really be hungry by then." Misty said, sarcastically.

Mike scoffs and said, "I'm sorry, I don't remember taking any comments about my skateboard."

"I wasn't talking about the skateboard."

"Whatever the case, this is how I roll."

"Don't roll too fast, we wouldn't want you to lose your appetite."

"Okay, who died and made you my mom?"

Manny looked at Mike and Misty, going at it with each other and asked Jojo, "Are they always like that?"

"Nah, they usually fight."

"So, Manny. What do we need to know about you?" asked Marcus.

Manny cleared his throat and answered, "Well, I was in group home for five and a half years. Reason why I was there, my father pretty much didn't want me in my life, because he didn't approve of who I am and we get into fights mostly."

"About?"

"The ideal of the 'Picture-perfect son' and all this other crap. It's kinda hard for me to go through so much pressure and said that I was a 'worthless piece of junk that shouldn't live anymore.' How suckish is that?"

"That must be rough." Caitlyn said.

Manny sighed and said, "It has. Anyway, I was abused almost everyday and I got some scars, bruises, cuts and wounds all over me. I would show them to you guys, but since this is a school, I can only show my arms."

Manny rolls out his sleeve and reveals some scars all over his arms. The rest of the gang gasped in shock and horror when they saw that.

"Sad, isn't it?"

"It's worse than sad. It's horrible." Misty said.

"What happened after that?" asked Zeke.

"My dad went to jail and they charged him with 18 counts of child abuse and aggravated assault of a minor. He was sentenced to death execution after that. I never saw him again, so I ended up here."

"How old were you?" asked Dustin.

"About 9 or 10. On one hand, it was something that was horrible that have happened, but on the other hand, I finally didn't want to deal with the abuse anymore, though I still have nightmares about it every night. As if I didn't have enough problems already, when I got to group home, I get bullied most of the time, because of my hair, clothing, the type of music I listen to and whatever. It just sucks that I was all alone with no one to defend me until Josh, Hoagie and Frankie came in the picture. We've been friends since then and a month later after that, that's where I also met Max and we've been best buds ever since."

"That's gotta be rough for you, Manny. You had been pressured by your father to be the son he wanted you to be, but he couldn't accept you for who you are." Jonah said.

"That's pretty much it."

"There was one question I wanted to ask you and your brothers for that I never got a chance to ask you in the first place." Frankie said.

"What's that?"

"How'd you and Jojo became brothers?"

Jonah sighed heavily and said, "Knew that question was coming. Well, our stepfather dominated me, Travis, Hawk, Cyrus and Sam after our mom was killed, so he beats us and harms us for everly little thing, because he put us through every single freaking crap every day. Travis and I had the most fear for him, but mostly Travis, because he's sensitive and fragile. And me, I was scared that if I mad him mad, he would beat me until I'm black and blue and the rest of us-same result. He harms us, physically, brutally and emotionally, like he would call us 'stupid', 'sissies' and 'miserable excuse for a son.' Once we settled into Whoville, we became a little tight group, so we never had many friends, individually, until I met Jojo and he saw through our scars that it was our stepdad's work and he and his dad saw us getting pummeled all the time and in a way, his family rescued us and we've been a part of his family ever since."

"Man, that's just brutal." Josh said.

"You don't know what it's like when your stepfather is a monster." Hawk said.

"So what happened to your stepfather?" asked Max.

"Last we heard, he died in the electric chair for several charges during the custody of who gets us." Sam replied.

"Dare I ask what were the charges?" asked Hoagie.

"Child abuse, aggravated assault, attempted aggravated assault, attempted murder and 13 counts of attempted aggravated murder for our mom. Not to mention drug posession."

"What kind of drug did that sick man use?"

"Prescription pills and also crystal methamphetamine."

"Methamphetamine? As in crystal meth?" asked Manny.

"Yeah, that."

"And we've been tighter ever since for almost a year." Cyrus said.

"I still would've kicked his butt before he died." Misty said.

"If you did, you'd be charged with attempted assault." Mike said.

"Good point."

"As well as a code L-327."

"L-327?"

"Wearing that tacky outfit while in court."

Misty scoffs and said, "Zip it before I give you a code 821-J."

"821-J?"

"Slap your face into tomorrow."

Suddenly, Manny sees Diego walking by the lunchroom and Diego stares at him and asked, "What are you looking at, wimp?"

"Absoultely nothing." Manny answered.

"Just stay out of my way, got it?"

Diego walks off and went to an empty lunchtable and started eating. The gang looked at him and Caitlyn asked, "What's wrong with him?"

"You don't want to have any business with Diego. He will squeeze your blood out." Manny said.

"I'll squeeze his blood out if he does." Misty said.

"Like I said, you don't know Diego. If you get in his way, it's your death sentence."

"Maybe he's going through a rough thing in his life." Zeke said.

"How do you know?"

"Obviously, he's got something in his life that makes him like that, like a bully."

"All I can say to you guys, don't get in his way. He's really dangerous."

"Manny made up some rumors about him that he used to beat up some little kids at the group home and intimidate them. I didn't want to ask him if it was true, but I tried it one time, the one respons was, 'GET OUT OF MY ROOM!' and when I left, all he could do is pound the wall with his fist." Frankie said.

"He pounds the wall with his fist?" asked Jonah.

"Yep. It's his anger drug. When he gets ticked about something, he takes his anger out on the wall on his room, the closet door and also on a window."

"Okay, the window part scares me. When I saw him pounding on a window, his hand was bleeding. And he looked at me and wanted to beat me up, so I ran away." Max said.

"Diego has been intimidating Max for several years and somehow Nate and Hector are always scared of him when they're near him, but when it comes to Max, they're fearless and immature."

"How often?" asked Dustin.

"Almost every day." Max replied.

"That's awful."

"I know, but what can I do? Like they said, I'm small, I'm wimpy, I'll never amount to anything."

"Max, you know you're not one of those things. There's something special about you and accept yourself for who you are." Caitlyn said.

Max looks at Caitlyn and asked, "You think so?"

"I know so." she said, with a smile.

Max smiled a little and said, "You're nice, just like my friend Camille."

"Who's Camille?" asked Mike.

"Max's crush." Hoagie replied.

"Hoagie!"

"Max got a crush on Camille?" asked Noah.

"She's a friend."

"Uh-huh. Sure, she is."

Max sighed and rolled his eyes and said, "Half of you guys don't know her."

Manny looks at Jojo and said, "I'd rather go to this school than any other high school."

"Do you want a family?" asked Jojo.

"I do, but I don't want to be a burden."

Jojo thought about it for a few seconds and said, "You're one of us now. Welcome to Club Whoville Outcasts."

"What's that?"

"A club where anyone can join who doesn't have to fit in with the cliques."

Manny smiled and said, "That's a club I'd like to be in."

* * *

As I introduced you guys to Manny, there's something about him that youdon't know. The next chapter will expose Manny's true feelings.


	12. Manny's Secret

And this is it...Manny's true feelings revealed.

* * *

Chapter 12: Manny's Secret

A couple of hours later, the gang walks back to group home and just relaxed for a bit. Meanwhile, Manny was in his room, lying down on his bed and just thinking for a while. As he looked up at the ceiling, he seemed a little sad about something and as he looked at his scars, he couldn't get over the fact that he's been tossed around from every foster home and those memories seem to replay over his head. He closed his eyes and just bit his lip to feel so much pain coming out, emotionally.

He laid there on his bed and sighed heavily as those thoughts keep replaying on the back of his mind. Then, he decided to release all the emotional pain he's been feeling for years as he picks up his Who-Guitar and look through his songs he's written for several years and strums it and begins singing.

_Maybe, I'm just not good enough for you  
And maybe, i just don't wanna be like you  
And maybe I just don't wanna know  
How low you're ready to go  
I'm not gonna change, you can't make me, WHOA_

_You don't, You don't, You don't, You don't_

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You're what I never wanna be_

_Tell me, does it feel good to be like you  
And tell me, why should I waste my time with you  
Cuz maybe you always bring me down  
And I'm sick of being pushed around  
I'm not gonna change, you can't make me, WHOA_

_You don't, You don't, You don't, You don't_

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You're what I never wanna be_

_I know you think you know me  
You don't know anything  
I know you wanna help me  
I don't need anything  
Don't tell me where to go  
I don't need you to know_

_You don't, you don't, you don't, you don't  
You don't mean anything to me  
You don't you dont, you don't, you don't  
You don't me anything to me_

_You don't, You don't, You don't, You don't_

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You don't mean anything to me _

_You're what I never wanna be_

After the last strum, a tear suddenly rolled down Manny's face as he closed his eyes and fell down on his guitar. He puts it away for a while and just sat there, wiping his eyes furiously than ever. Then, a knock on the door comes in and he asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Frankie."

He quickly wiped his eyes from all the tears and said, "Come in."

Frankie comes in the door and sees Manny a little down and asked, "Everything okay?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, everything's cool." Manny responded.

Frankie knew that something was up, because he can see dried tears in his face as he folded his arms and asked him, "You haven't been crying, have you?"

"What, me? No. No, I'm cool."

"Heard you playing guitar earlier and I just figured if, in fact, something is bothering you. You wanna tell me about it?"

"There's nothing wrong, Frankie. I'm perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?"

Manny sees his glare and then, immediately sighs sadly, closed his eyes, lowered his head down and responded, softly, "No."

Frankie puts his arm on Manny's shoulder and told him, "You can always tell me, right? We've been friends for years."

Manny scratched his head and told Frankie, "Remember when I told the others back at that school that I've been here when I was nine or ten? I covered it up so they wouldn't that I've been here all my life, despite going from foster home to foster home to the point where nobody would want me."

"Why did you cover it up, though?"

"It's complicated. I was too scared to even show them my true colors, because they wouldn't understand. Like, if I could've told them the truth, they wouldn't want me as their friend anymore and I'd be alone again."

"I know you've been here for 15 years and we go back almost 12 years."

"Yeah, we have. Until you hung around with Max while I was in a foster family, which never worked out well."

"No one could replace you as my friend. I could never come between you and Max, because the bottom line is you guys are both my best friends and nothing's gonna change that."

"Yeah, I know."

Suddenly, Max comes in and asked, "Was I really in the way?"

Frankie turns around and replied, "No, Max. You weren't in the way between me and Manny."

"How long have you heard us?" asked Manny.

"I heard everything."

"The part about being abused though-it actually did happen a couple of years ago with another foster family. The dad was totally a monster."

"What did he do?" asked Max.

"He would bruise me, beat me, shove me, push me and hit me with things or with his bare hands. Left me with numerous scars all over me."

"You're kidding." Hoagie said, coming from behind.

"I wish I was. Take a look."

As Josh and Hoagie came in, he lifted up his shirt and exposes millions of scars all over his body. All of them gasped in total horror when they saw that for the first time. Frankie looked disgusted with those permanent scars all over his stomach and on the back as well. Josh said, "That must've hurt."

He lowered his shirt and said, "It was bad. It was like being in a nightmare you can't wake up to."

"Maybe you should tell the others about it, that it was your number of foster parents that did it to you."

"Actually, a lot of foster parents who took me in did this to me, so it was random and I can't tell them. They'll think I was lying to them and they wouldn't want me as their friend anymore."

"Manny, I know you've been through a lot, but don't you think it's time for them to know about what actually happened?"

Manny looked worried, but he was more than willing to do this for himself and for his new friends. He sighed heavily and said, "I'll tell them tomorrow and hopefully, they'll understand."

Frankie smiled at Manny and puts his hand on his shoulder and said, "That's the Manny I always know."

"You've always been like a brother to me."

"Both you and Max."

Max looked at Manny and asked, "Whatever happened to your parents, anyway?"

Manny sighed heavily and said, "A year after I was born, my parents never wanted me or even love me. I really never knew them that much, because they were never around. And somehow, they dropped me off here and I've been here for 15 years. As I grew older, I've always been from foster families to foster families and most of them are dysfunctional and some I've never been around with that much and most of the families are the abusive type-physically and emotionally-and I never actually fit in with anyone, because one of the foster families claim that I was a burden to them and that I'm not fit to be the son they wanted me to be and they never accept me for me and I was always giving up on myself whenever I see a new family, because it's like, 'what's the point? I'll never be the son they always wanted me to be.'"

"One thing I know for sure-you never stop trying. Sure, you may be down and out, but you never know unless you try. Just remember, we always got your back." Frankie said.

Manny smiled a little and said, "Thanks, you guys."

"That's what friends are for." Josh said.

"Spoken like a true friend."

They all turn around and see Marcus standing there. Everyone greeted him as he came in the room and Max asked, "How long have you been listening?"

"Just heard the whole thing. Manny, how come you never told us that story earlier at school today?" asked Marcus.

"I was scared that if I told you that, then you wouldn't be my friend anymore. I've seen what that looks like. Are you mad at me?"

"No, of course not. We all have our dark sides about our past, but we can try to move forward."

"So, we're still cool?"

"Of course."

Marcus gives Manny a handshake and realize that this is the start of a growing friendship. Suddenly, Mike comes in with half of paint on his face and said, "This is what it looks like when someone pranks you?"

"Who did that?" asked Marcus.

"Some stupid dudes who have nothing better to do that squirt me with squirt guns."

Frankie groans and asked, "Don't tell me-Nate and Hector, right?"

"How'd ya know?"

"Lucky guess."

"They usually pick on me." Max said.

"No kidding."

"Hey, where's Cody?" asked Marcus.

"Right here!"

Marcus and Mike look up and see Cody coming upstairs. Then, he looks at Mike and sees some paint on his face. He asked, "Do I ever wanna-"

"No, dude." Mike answered.

"Got it."

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Hoagie.

"We actually came for Max and Frankie to see how they're doing."

"Doing great. Thanks." Frankie said.

"We've been looking for you, dude. What happened?"

"I went over to see Manny when I heard that he's been here all his life." Marcus said.

"All his life, like 15 years?" asked Mike.

"Yep. It's a long story."

Later, Marcus and Manny explained everything to Mike and Cody and they were definitely surprised about it. Mike asked, "You've been in and out of foster home?"

"Yep." Manny said.

"I wish you would've told us sooner."

"I was too scared to lose anyone who's close to me."

"In our group, we always stick together, no matter what the odds are."

"We hope you find an awesome family who will take you in."

"Who would take me in?"

"How about us?" asked Cody.

"You guys would?"

"Our parents might. We'd take you, Frankie and Max in...if that's cool of course."

"Definitely." Frankie said.

"You guys would really do that?" asked Manny.

"Yeah, that's why friends-or brothers-are for."

"You guys are awesome."

"We do try."

Suddenly, Camille walks pass the room and said, "Hey, Max."

"Hi, Camille."

Marcus looks up and asked, "That's Camille?"

"Yep."

"You like her, do ya?"

Max scoffs and said, "Whatever."

* * *

Well, there's a side of Manny no one knows. The song was 'You Don't Mean Anything' from Simple Plan. The next chapter is focusing on Max. Not gonna give much, but let's just say that Max is up for revenge against Nate and Hector. Stay tuned!


	13. The Last Straw

And here it is! Max finally gets some revenge on Nate and Hector and gives them a taste of their own medicine!

* * *

Chapter 13: The Last Straw

Later that day, Max walks down the stairs and sees the rest of the gang come in-Jojo, Zeke, Jonah, Sam, Misty, Caitlyn, Noah, Dustin, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Chad, Austin and Seth-and is eager to greet them to say 'hi'. The second he came downstairs, out of nowhere, he lost balance and tripped down the stairs and fell down on the floor. The rest of the gang looked at Max and saw him on the floor. Most of kids were laughing as Max got himself up and all of a sudden, Nate comes out laughing hysterically and said, "You shoulda seen the look on your face!"

Then, Hector comes out from behind the stairs and asked, "Gotta watch where you're going, Maxie-boy."

"Well played, my friend." Nate said.

"You too."

They both high-fived each other and started laughing hysterically. Max grew really ticked off and said, "Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

"Yeah, torment the crap out of you." Nate answered.

Hector flicked on Max's nose and slaps him in the face as he fell down on the floor. Nate was standing there, laughing hysterically. He then said, "Let me bring out my camera! I gotta post this on WhoTube."

He whips out his camera and plans to videotape the whole thing as Nate torments him with every single thing. Jojo and the rest looked in horror as this is inraveling and suddenly, Misty was so increasingly angry that they have to watch Max suffer, so she runs towards them, gets on the camera and shouts, "Why don't you guys just freakin' leave him alone?"

"Get out of the way! You're ruining my close-up!" Hector exclaimed.

Misty got into the camera's face where the lens go closer to her eyes and asked, "Is this close enough for you?"

"Nate! Get this girl, please!"

"Hey! Why don't you go home and play with your dolls or something?" asked Nate.

"For your information, teenagers don't play with dolls!" Misty exclaimed.

"Well, it's none of your business, so why don't you move it!"

"You're gonna have to get by me first!"

"And us too!"

Suddenly, Nate and Hector looked up and saw Jojo, Caitlyn, Zeke, Noah, Chad, Seth, Austin, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Sam, Dustin standing up to them, looking serious. Nate looked at them and asked, "Why don't we take this outside, then?"

"Why not?"

Then, they looked up and saw Hoagie, Frankie, Marcus, Josh, Mike, Cody, Manny and Marcus from upstairs and Marcus said, "Why don't you guys just leave Max alone?"

"Who says?" asked Nate.

Later, they went outside and Nate got in their faces and said, "You guys made a big mistake defending this little shrimp here."

"Maybe we are defending this shrimp, because this shrimp happens to be our friend and we don't like it when someone tortures him for no freakin' reason." Jojo said.

"Big talk from a dude who doesn't want to be Mayor like his lame-brain father."

"YOU LEAVE MY DAD OUT OF THIS!"

Caitlyn calmed Jojo down by putting her hand on his shoulder and said, "Easy, Jojo. It's not worth it."

Jojo was seething, but eventually took a deep breath and calmed himself down a little and then, said, "Let's stick to the real issue. The problem is you guys don't know what it's like to be bullied all the time."

"Blah-blah-blah-blah! Who gives a hoot about what you say? We can do whatever we want whenever we want and we don't care who feels about it." Hector said.

"Why do you always torture Max all the time?" asked Frankie.

"Because he's a wimp, a weak little weakling who will never amount to anything."

"That's not true. How would you like it if someone said that to you?" asked Jonah,

"We wouldn't care."

Most of them were disgusted with what they just said and Seth asked, "You just don't get it, do ya?"

"Get what?" asked Nate.

"You think that you torture someone else your own size makes you feel good about it? You do realize that most teenagers kill themselves because of being victimized of being bullied with people just like you guys who tortures them, physically and emotionally."

"That's because they're weak and they can't even fight. Me and Hector have been here for as long as we can remember, because we come from distant backgrounds and the world is full of sensitive emo germs that we can't catch, so we exterminate them, because they're so weak and seeing them feel powerless is what keeps us going."

Josh looked at them and said, "There's no getting through to these guys."

"Are they always like this?" asked Zeke.

"All the time."

"Why can't Max stand up to them?" asked Austin.

"Because they see him as defenseless and unfortunately for Max, he's been through a lot and he feels as if no one's defending him excpet for me, Hoagie, Manny and Frankie."

"Me and Nate fight Max because we love to see him cry. And we beat him up because we know he's defenseless and a wimp." Hector said.

"And you think you're gonna get away with it?" asked Cyrus.

"We've done it for a long time, ever since he came here, we've been making half of his life miserable as ever."

Max couldn't take being the victim of being bullied by Nate and Hector as the memories of being bullied, laughed at, spat at, squirted at, beaten up triggered his brain and his emotions went into the absolute overload as he felt very mad and much more angry and felt that it was time to give them what he should've given them for a long time. He closed his fists and ran towards Nate and pummeled him down to the ground and punched him in his face, multiple times, left and right. Hector stepped in to save Nate and he tried to pull Max out, but he gave Hector a severe punch in the head and threw him down the ground and continued punching Nate a couple of times and then, went for Hector and punched him in the face a million times, then threw him down on the ground hard. Max panted furiously as sweat comes out of hair and his eyes were filled with tears after all those years of emotional pain that he's been holding in.

Then, he told them, "NOW SEE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE BEING BULLIED EVERY DAY! You tortured me 9 freaking years of my life and now you get what's coming to you! I'm not worthless! The fact is, you guys don't know what it feels like to be bullied and being hurt every single day of your life! But you guys don't even care. All you do is think about who you hurt other people's feelings and make it look good instead of apologizing to them! All I know is...you guys will never change."

He storms out and runs back into the group home, crying. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang look amazed that Max finally stood Nate and Hector up for the first time ever. Hoagie looked at both Nate and Hector and said, "Even I could've done that."

Nate groans heavily and asked, "What happened?"

Misty groans and then comes at Nate and just sucker-punched him in the stomach and Nate cries out in pain and said, "Watch the sensitive part, please!"

"Oh, that was an accident. I meant to do this!"

Then, she kicked him in the groin and Nate squealed in a high-pitched squeak in pain and then walks by Hector and punches him in the nose hard. Frankie chuckled and said, "You know, she's awesome."

"I gotta admit, she is tough...for a girl." Mike said.

"I heard that, Mikey." Misty said.

"Wanna hear it again?"

Manny scoffs and looks at Jojo and Marcus and asked, "How do you deal with them?"

"You got us." Jojo replied.

"I gotta go check on Max to see if he's okay." Frankie said.

"Sure thing." Caitlyn said.

Suddenly, bunch of other kids come around and see them for the first time and out of nowhere, a young who, 15 years old, 5'8, grey and blue striped fur, blue eyes, dark midnight hair with blue and red bangs on his hair with a spiky mohawk on the center, wearing a rainbow T-shirt that says 'Family' on the center and wearing dark blue jeans with a necklace that says, 'Alive', comes towards the others and said, "You guys from Whoville?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Zeke.

"Who took down Nate and Hector?"

"Max."

"I know both Max and Frankie well. So, it's no big deal."

"That's cool."

Then, he sees Hoagie and said, "Hey, Hoagie, Josh. How you guys doing?"

He looked at the guy and said, "Doing great! Yourself?"

"Awesome."

Hoagie comes up to him and introduced him to the others. He said, "Guys, this is Ryan. Ryan Santana."

"What's up?" asked Ryan.

"Not much."

"How long you guys known each other?" asked Austin.

"I've known Hoagie for 5 years. Him and Josh, too."

"So you guys are friends or something?"

"Yeah, I am. I've been here after Hoagie 5 years ago. It's awesome, though because we have similar stories of our past."

"That's amazing."

Frankie walks to Max's room and sat down on the bed and Frankie told him, "It took a lot of courage for you to get back at Nate and Hector."

"Yeah, it did." Max said.

"I have to say I'm really impressed with you giving what they deserved. I'm hoping that they won't bother you anymore nor will they harm another soul anymore."

Max looks up at Frankie and said, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Don't be. They got what they deserved because of you and you know something? You stood up for them by yourself and that's a courageous thing you did. And I'm proud of you for that."

Max let a few tears fall down on his face and smiled at Frankie and said, "Thanks."

They gave each other a hug and Max felt like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders and he felt like it was something he could've done years ago. Frankie looked at Max and said, "Let's go outside, man."

"Okay."

Later, they went outside and saw Hoagie and the others just talking. Hoagie looks at them and said, "Hey, guys."

"Hey, what's up?" asked Frankie.

"You okay, Max?"

"Yeah, I'm cool." Max replied.

"That was awesome of you punching Nate and Hector in the face, by the way. You got guts, dude." Ryan said.

"Thanks."

"You remember Ryan, right, guys?"

"Sure thing. How ya doing?" asked Frankie.

"Cool."

"Hey, Ryan." Max said.

"What's up, Max?"

"Not much. I see you met some of our friends."

"Yeah, they're awesome."

They all continued talking and laughing with each other, unaware that Diego is watching from the window. He didn't seem like he was in a rage. He seemed rather sad that he doesn't have what the others have and with that, he silently went up to his room with one tear rolling down his face.

* * *

Was that Diego being...vulnerable? Guess he lets his guard down just once. But you'll see a lot more of that later on. You think Hector and Nate might learn their lesson? You be the judge. Laterz.


	14. About Diego and Growing Friendships

Notice how the amount of friends is growing in this story and something about Diego that'll make you feel sorry for him.

* * *

Chapter 14: About Diego and Growing Friendships

A few hours passed and Frankie, Max, Hoagie, Josh, Manny and Ryan all went back to the group house for dinner where they're serving pizza and breadsticks and pasta. All of them were pretty much hungry as they started sitting down and eating with them. Camille walks by with a few girls and sits down in another chair, where she sees Max. They look at each other and Camille giggled and waved at him while Max waved at her back with a shy smile. Frankie looked at Max and teased him a little bit about him and Camille.

"Are you guys in love?" asked Frankie.

Max scoffs while Frankie laughs sheepishly. Max responded, "Like I said, we're just friends. Nothing more."

"Sure you are." Josh said, sarcastically.

Camille rolled her eyes and said, "You guys are so immature."

"We're immature?"

"Yes, you are. Max and I are good friends and that's how it'll stay."

"Okay. Just as long as you guys don't start dating."

Max and Camille looked at each other and both said, "Oh, whatever."

They started laughing and Frankie said, "Hey, Max. Don't take it personally, man. We know you and Camille are just friends."

"That's all we are."

Then, some other girls were looking at Max and one girl said, "Heard you gave Hector and Nate what's coming to them."

Max froze and then, stared at her and asked, "You saw that?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I kinda lost it, so..."

"It's about time they got what they deserve!"

Max looked confused at that comment and asked, "You...did? Why?"

"Those two are torture me because of my dress, the music I listen to and that I can't do anything boys can do. How bogus is that? I mean, seriously?"

"They're just stupid. Trust me."

"Absoultely stupid." another girl said.

Ryan looks up and sees another who-black and grey striped fur, 5'7, 154 pounds, brown eyes, 14 years old, dark midnight hair with blue and green bangs with a small mohawk with a few fringes on his left eye, wearing a dark blue T-shirt and light blue jeans with a necklace that says 'Friendship'-coming downstairs to join him and his friends as he sat down with Ryan. He looks at him and asked, "What's the haps, man?"

"Nothing much, Ry. Just came downstairs after playing some basketball with the other guys. Not to mention, I beat out Diego."

"How'd he take it?"

"Not so well. A few hours ago, I beat him at his own game and his response-storming to his room, slamming the door and pounded the walls 12 times."

"Man, what a sore loser." Manny said.

"You're telling me?"

"So, what happened, Jared?" asked Ryan.

"When I went up to his room to tell him 'good game', he locked me out and screamed, 'Go away' on the other side of the door. Like he's not over it." Jared answered.

Camille scoffs and said, "Diego is such a sore loser."

"Not to mention, totally nuts." Manny responded.

"Hey, Max. I saw you beating up Nate and Hector. What possessed you to beat them up?" asked Jared.

"I couldn't take being bullied by them anymore, so I wanted to get them back after all those years." Max replied.

"I gotta say, you've got nerve."

"Well, as good as it felt, I have a feeling I'm gonna deal with another set of Nate and Hectors of the world."

"We got your back, dude." Josh said.

"Yeah, no matter what the odds are against you, we'll be right with you until the end." Hoagie said.

Suddenly, Diego comes downstairs, picks up a plate, grabs some food and off he goes back upstairs to his room. Somehow, they were surprised that he was quiet and also not as angry. Manny looked shocked and asked, "Did you see that? He didn't say a word nor express any emotion."

"Normally, he would break a few walls and scream at people." Hoagie said.

"Sounds weird."

"But at least he isn't giving us any trouble now." Frankie said.

Max wasn't sure that Diego's like this and felt a little worried about it. He kept his mind off of it for a second and continue eating and talking with his friends. Unbeknownst to them, Diego's door cracked open and he sees Max and the others just talking and laughing with his friends and Diego just looked at them and felt somewhat...lonely. He sighed heavily as he closed the door softly.

The next day, Frankie, Max, Josh, Hoagie, Manny, Ryan and Jared went to Whoville High School together and somehow, they saw Diego walking behind them and when he walked past them, they realized that he's silent and not as much as a brute as possible. Hoagie looked at Ryan and asked, "What's his problem?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's not as menacing as ever." Ryan responded.

Diego soon accidently ran into a freshman and glanced at him in a menacing way and asked, "What are you looking at? Get out of my way before I pummel you down!"

The freshman was scared and ran another direction and Diego kept walking. Manny looked at Ryan and said, "Yeah, not so much."

"I can admit I'm wrong, can I?" asked Ryan.

They all went to the entrance of the school and suddenly, some water balloons were thrown directly at them. Suddenly, it was clear that it was Eric and his crew along with Nate and Hector and they all laughed hysterically. Max was dumbfounded by the fact that Nate and Hector were at it again. Manny said, "I thought you taught them a lesson, Max."

"It's no surprise to me that they're still doing it. It's obvious that they'll never change." Max said.

They soon met up with Mike in the hallways as he sees them appearing half soaken wet. He sighs and said, "Let me guess, Nate and Hector?"

"Who else?" asked Josh.

"Don't ya think they would've learned by now?"

"Sadly, no." Max said.

Mike recognized Ryan from the group home and asked, "Ryan, right?"

"Yep. We meet again." Ryan said.

"And who's he?"

"This is Jared Ortega. We met pretty much the same time we were in group home, like five years and we've been buds ever since. Jared, Mike."

"What's up, man?" asked Jared.

"Same here. Welcome to Whoville High. You'll meet the gang later on today." Mike said.

Soon, they saw Diego pass through and he walked past them, looks at them and keeps walking. Mike looked puzzled and asked, "What's his deal?"

"Not sure." Manny said.

Later, they all met at lunch, just talking and stuff and soon enough, the whole gang-Jojo, Caitlyn, Austin, Seth, Misty, Cody, Jonah, Cyrus, Travis, Sam, Hawk, Dustin, Noah, Zeke, Chad and Marcus-all sat down and have lunch with them. Jojo was surprised with the gang expanding. Jojo chuckled and said, "So, we've got some new members of our club here."

"Yeah, we do." Mike said.

"Guys, half of you remember Ryan from yesterday and this is his friend, Jared." Manny said.

"What's up, guys?" asked Jared.

"Pretty good."

"I'm Jojo McDodd and these are my friends, Caitlyn, Misty, Seth, Cody, Noah, Chad, Zeke, Dustin, Marcus and I see you already met Mike and thse are my brothers-Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam."

"Nice to meet you all."

"What he said." Ryan said.

"So, you're in group home too?" asked Dustin.

"That's right?"

"How come?"

"Ran away from home when I was 6 and I went to every foster home until I went to group home and remained there for five years." Ryan said.

"Same here, only I've been in group home for almost 6 years, so. My parents never wanted me, so they gave me up immediately after I was born." Jared said.

"What?" asked Misty.

"True story."

"That's suprising." Noah said.

"Isn't it, though?"

"Ryan and I became best buds when we were eight, because we've been in one foster family where it was literally dysfunctional and violent, so we were survivors."

"Amazing." Jonah said.

"You guys make an excellent fit in this group." Cody said.

Manny clears his throat and said, "There's something I have to tell you. I've been in and out of foster home for several years when I was a baby. I've actually been in foster care and in group home my whole life. I didn't want to tell you guys the real story, so I covered it up."

"Why'd ya do it, though?" asked Austin.

"Because you wouldn't be my friends if I told you that."

"We'd still be friends with you even if you did tell us that. Just try to be more honest with us."

"You really mean that?"

"Most definitely. No member of this group gets left behind." Zeke said.

"I wouldn't say the same for Misty." Mike said.

"You think you're so funny." Misty said, sarcastically.

"Don't you forget it."

"Too late."

Suddenly, they all saw Diego walking through the cafeteria and suddenly, some of the seniors threw food at him and started laughing at him. That really ticked Diego off and we went in and grabbed both of them and screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE OR I'LL CRUSH YOUR FREAKIN' SKULL! I've already been through enough and I don't need you to make it worse for me! Got it? Now, beat it!"

Some of the seniors fled the scene and Diego was totally angry with this situation and when he turned around, everyone was staring at him and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Everyone turned away and Diego went back to his seat and resumed eating. Manny stared at him and then back at the table and said, "I'm not sure who should I feel sorry for, him or the seniors."

Max never realized that Diego's been bullied too. Ryan sighs and said, "Well, bullies are all the same. They never know when to stop until they get in trouble."

"You get bullied too?" asked Max.

"Constantly. So did Jared. Mostly, because of the way we are, way we dress, way we look, type of music we like. It kinda sucks that anyone like to hurt your feelings."

"Don't you wish bullying would end permanently? Don't you think they ought to accept us for who we are?" asked Jared.

"That's what we're all thinking." Jojo said.

"Have you been bullied before?" asked Ryan.

"A lot. Mostly because of the way I am and also, I get called 'emo-freak' and say stupid things about my dad."

"They do that?" asked Jared.

"Yeah. You guys don't know what it feels like to try to please your dad when you don't want to do something he wants you to do and get bullied every single day for it."

"That's harsh. I never actually knew my dad."

"You haven't?"

"Nah, I never see him around, because he died when I was a month old."

"I barely even know my dad and I never see him growing up." Ryan said.

"We didn't actually know that." Jonah said.

"You'd be surprised. At least you guys are lucky to have one."

The rest of the gang continued talking to each other as they ate lunch and got to know each other very well. Jared looked at the others and said, "This is a group I'm welcomed to anyday."

"Well, this is only the beginning." Jojo said.

* * *

Not surprised that Nate and Hector are still bullying? Neither am I. Stick around for a side of Diego you've never seen before! See how Diego got bullied? What does that tell ya? Anyways, stay tuned for Diego's ultimate true colors!


	15. The Real Diego

And here is...well, you'll see the title of this chapter and see what it states.

* * *

Chapter 15: The Real Diego

Later that afternoon, Frankie, Max, Hoagie, Josh, Manny, Ryan and Jared were walking home from school, just talking and stuff like that. As soon as they almost got there, they saw Diego walking by himself with his shades on. Manny looked at Diego's shades and looked kinda puzzled. He turned to Hoagie and asked, "Why is Diego wearing sunglasses?"

"Doesn't he hate sunglasses?" asked Hoagie.

Manny looked super-suprised about it, gasped and said, "That's right! He hates sunglasses."

"Then, if he hates them, why is he wearing them?" asked Frankie.

"Maybe we should ask." Max suggested.

"Or we shouldn't." Manny shrugged.

When Diego made it back to the group home before the others, he takes off his sunglasses, revealing two black eyes knowing the fact that he's been beaten the crap out of by some bullies. He shuddered softly and exhaled sharply and felt the pain sting a little bit, but emotionally. It felt like his bullying side and angry side might've caught up with him, but he hides it away from everyone else. He takes a breath and then, he hears some of the others coming on the way, so he puts his sunglasses back on to hide his black eyes from everyone else.

As soon as they come in, they see Diego sitting down on the porch and everyone else kept silent, because they didn't want to risk bothering him anymore. Max looks at Diego and tries not to look at him, but Diego scowled at him and said, "Quit looking at me!"

Max got frightened and looked at the others as soon as they came back in. But Max had a gut feeling that something else is bothering him and he's not sure if he should step away or give him a comforting shoulder. After they came inside the house, Diego came indoors as well until he feels a rock being thrown at the back of his head. He groans in pain and then turns around and there's the seniors again, going after Diego again.

One senior looked at him and with a menacing look, he said, "We have some unfinished business."

Minutes later, Diego walked back up the stairs, battered, beaten and bruised, trying to get back to his room, feeling a totaly amount of anger, helplessness and sorrow inside of him. When he got closer to his room, he sees Max standing there in nervousness, but also in shock that he's been beaten. Max sees the scars all over his face, like something happened to him. Diego scowled at him and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"What happened to you?" asked Max.

"NONE OF YOUR FREAKIN' BUSINESS! GET OUT OF MY FACE OR I'LL SMOTHER YOU INTO A MILLION PIECES, YOU LITTLE SAVAGE!" Diego screamed.

Max backed away slowly and went back to his and Frankie's room, looking shaken up. Suddenly, Ms. H comes upstairs and asked, "What's with the screaming?"

Diego turns away for a minute until Ms. H saw his entire face scarred up. She looked shocked and asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing you would understamd." Diego said, softly.

He then went back to his room, leaving Ms. H in despair, dealing with the fact Diego's got some issues in his life. As Diego sits down in his bed, he can hear the sounds of laughter and taunting back at school. His anger levels have boiled over the 200th degree level and he just lost it and went into a full on emotional rage. He throws everything down on his room, breaking every wall, screaming uncontrollably, kicks the ceiling hard and tore up everything in his room. He then sits down on his bed as those memories cut him deeply and his past was also worse for him. Then, he lays down and just starts bursting out crying uncontrollably.

It's like for the first time, Diego lets his guard down and exposes his true emotions of sorrow, anguish and pain in his life, unaware that Max heard him crying on the other side of the door. Manny walked past Max and said, "I hope Diego doesn't catch you in his door."

Max didn't respond to that and then Manny comes over to him and suddenly, he heard Diego break down. He was surprised to figure something out and asked, "Is Diego...crying?"

"Yeah, I think he is."

Manny seemed confused about this and said, "I don't get it. I mean, he seems pretty angry lately, but today...he's actually crying? What's his deal?"

"I don't know. I hate to say this, but I think we should see what's wrong."

Manny looked mortified and asked, "Uh...'we'?"

"Yes, we."

"Shouldn't we give a second option?"

"Like what?"

"Like not gonna happen."

"I'll think one of us will take that risk."

"Not me, man. I'm out."

Manny walks away and went back to his room and Max sighed heavily and walked back into his room as well. Seconds later, Diego walks out of his room, trying to hide his tears away and went to the bathroom. Suddenly, Max pops out of the room and heads for Diego's room, where there's clothes, paper, trash and stuff lying around the floor. He never realized how big a mess it was behind closed doors and then, as soon as he's about to leave, he sees a picture frame that's been shattered and in it, it was his parents after his birth. He never really realized that he had a family and suddenly, he sees a picture of his father in prison and he looks down and reads 'Aggravated assault, drug possession, Attempted assault and child endangerment'. Somehow, Max learns that Diego's father had been abusive to him when he was young. And then looked at his parents' tombstone that they were both dead a long time ago.

Looking at Diego's past, it made Max feel sorry for him, even if Diego despises him at the most. He puts down everything and plans to leave Diego's room before he comes backand he gets out of his room and heads back into his and Frankie's room. Max heard Frankie playing some guitar and when he came back in, Frankie stopped and asked, "Where ya been?"

"In Diego's room." Max answered.

Frankie groaned and asked, "How long did you stay there for?"

"Just five minutes."

"What were you doing there?"

"Besides his room all trashed, I found out that his dad was a prisoner for abusing Diego."

Frankie looked shocked and asked, "What, are you serious?"

"Yeah. So far the reason why Diego's a bully is that his father used to bully him before he was sent here."

"Cut to the chase, Max."

"I looked at his face and there were two black eyes on his face."

Frankie gasped in surprise and said, "You're kidding."

"I wish I were, but I'm not. But he then also had some scars and bruises on his face."

"Not that I care that much, but was it the seniors?"

"That's pretty much it."

"Did Diego catch you in the room?"

"No, I escaped."

Frankie exhaled in relief and told Max, "That was a big risk you took, Max."

"I know. But I think I wanted to know what's wrong with him. And now I do."

Hours later, Max was walking upstairs and went back to the room after dinner and suddenly, Diego sees Max walking around and then, he came up to him and said, "I know you've been in my room."

Max looked at Diego and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I know you came to my room and looked at everything about me."

Max looked nervous when he was confronted by Diego. He didn't know what to do with this situation and Diego suddenly looks at Max and told him, "Come in my room."

Max followed Diego into the room, where Manny saw him go in there, looking extremely fearful about it. As soon as the door closes, Manny walked off, fearing the worst possible case scenario.

Meanwhile, Max came in the room again and Diego sits down on the bed. Diego looks at Max and said, "Just sit anywhere, I don't care."

He sits down on the floor, next to Diego's side and there was silence in the room. Diego looks at Max and told him, "Why did you come in, anyway?"

"I knew about the black eyes and the scars on your face."

"You actually saw what happened to me?"

"No. I didn't know some bullies came here."

"It's something you wouldn't understand."

"I would."

Diego looks away and Max asked, "Why are you always like this?"

"Honestly? I'm not. I guess I just...acted that way because of my dad. When I was growing up, I never had a good childhood."

"But the picture of you and your parents..."

Diego looks at the picture, picks it up and said, "This? That's actually the only time I actually had a happy time of my life. When I look at it now, I see it as a lie."

"Why?" asked Max.

Diego sighed heavily and explains, "As I said, I never had a good childhood. My mom never actually loved me. She would always like, leave me hanging or give me half of some food and leave me behind when I want to go somewhere. My father-that's a different story. He was abusive to me. I would get beaten, scratched, punched, mauled, threatened and maybe being locked in the closet for hours on end. As I grew older, it grew more worse. They told me that they hated me every day and how I wish I was never their son in the first place. So, I had to fend for myself and I had to put up with their abuse for too long, so when I was eight, I ran away from home while my dad was in jail. Couple of weeks later, my folks got themselves in a car accident and they died. I was both horrified but also relieved, because I don't have to go through this pain again. But it does leave an impact on you, so I picked on other kids, because they were as defenseless as I was. Then, I came here and stayed in this room for 8 years and if anyone gets in my way, they were gonna get it. But that was just a way for them to leave me alone and let me have my space. There's a lot of crap going on about me, based on what they say, but none of it is actually true. That Manny guy made up stupid things about me, which is a lie. And when I look at you, I see myself and I guess I wanted to confront myself and torture you, but I forget that you have feelings at times. I guess that's why I never cared about what they felt the same way I felt."

Diego's eyes became misty-eyed as he drove into tears. He started crying softly and Max actually saw him break down in tears. Diego tries to not let Max see his real self, but Max already saw the cracks coming and his defenses were gone. He told Max, "You don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night, feeling haunted by the vision of your parents hating you for you. It just makes you sick to your stomach when you feel like you've been hated all your life and you just want to end it all."

Max sorta related to Diego's story a bit and told him, "My parents never wanted me either. They left me here when I was 6 and I've been here for 9 years. You think you're the only one suffering? Try waking up every night, crying yourself to sleep, thinking about what you could've done and blamed yourself for it."

Diego looked at Max and realized that he's been through a lot of pain and said, "I bet it must've hurt."

"Yeah, well, bullying hurts too. I've been a victim of being bullied by Nate and Hector and then you."

Diego lets one tear falling down his face and said, "I don't want to be a bully anymore."

"You don't?"

"Because if I continue being this way, I'll be a miserable person for the rest of my life. But it's kinda hard for me."

"You don't have to hurt another soul anymore. You just have to accept them for who they are."

"Think you can help me?"

"I will."

Diego suddenly gives Max a hug and said, "I'm sorry, Max...for everything. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I can."

"So...we're okay?"

"It's up to you. You gotta make the effort, though."

Max pulls out his hand and Diego felt nervous about it and Max said, "You've never been given a handshake before?"

"Never."

"It's not too late." Max said, smiling.

Diego slowly pulls out his hand and shook Max's hand. For Diego, it feels like something changed in him-turning a bullying target into a friend. Max chuckled and said, "Well, I'll go back to my room."

"Hey, Max. You can come in anytime you want, okay?"

"Really?"

"Just ask me, okay?"

"Okay, sure. Just keep trying, all right?"

"Yeah, okay."

Max walks out of the room, leaving Diego feeling like he's made a new friend for the first time. Meanwhile, Manny sees Max going downstairs and is surprised that there's no brutal scars. Manny asked, "What happened in there? I was worried that he was gonna beat the crap out of you."

"Manny, it's cool. Me and Diego are actually friends now." Max said.

Manny froze for a while and asked, "Did you say you guys are 'friends' now?"

"Yep."

Max walks back upstairs, leaving Manny puzzled and in disbelief and then he asked, "Did I miss something here?"

* * *

Looks like Diego's gonna change. Question is will anyone else be convinced? Who knows?


	16. Giving a Chance

We pick up where we left off.

* * *

Chapter 16: Giving a Chance

The next day, Max went towards the sidewalks on the way to school along with Manny, Ryan, Jared, Hoagie, Josh and Frankie and they were talking and laughing of some sort. Along the way, in comes Diego from behind, looking a little shy, hoping that now he's made peace with Max that he'll make peace with the others. Suddenly, Frankie looks behind and sees Diego walking towards them and told the others, "Diego's behind us, guys."

"Think we should make a quick getaway?" asked Manny.

"Nah, I don't think so." Max replied.

Manny looked puzzled and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Maybe he can walk with us."

"Are you serious, Max?"

"Just give him a chance."

Max calls out to Diego and said, "Hey, Diego. Wanna walk with us?"

Diego looks up as he sees Max with the others and said, "Sure thing, buddy."

Most of them were shocked and Jared asked, "Did Diego just call you 'buddy'?"

"Yeah, why?" asked Max.

"What's going on here?"

Diego catches up with them and sees that Frankie, Jared, Ryan, Josh, Hoagie and Manny were a little skeptical about it. He sighs softly and said, "Listen, I know we haven't been seeing eye-to-eye and I know you guys are kinda not used to me like this and in some way, I deserve that. We might've gotten off on the wrong foot."

"That's for sure." Frankie said.

"And after talking with Max, I seem to regret the things I've done in the past. I guess I just let it eat me alive for so long that I didn't move forward. But I'm sorta ready for you guys to give me chance here. I understand if you're not ready, but I'm just saying though, can you give me a chance?"

"No tricks?" asked Jared.

"Zero tricks."

"He's a good guy. Give him a chance." Max said.

Diego sticks out his hand in hopes to start fresh. Jared thought it might be a trick, but when he looked into his face, he can see that he's hoping to have a friend in his life. He reluctantly shakes his hand and Diego asked, "So...are we cool now?"

"You walking to school with us?" asked Jared.

"Yeah, I am."

Jared chuckled and believed him and replied, "Then...I guess we'll give it a shot."

"That's all I need."

Frankie looks at him and said, "If you're willing to make the effort, then I'm in."

Frankie shook his hand too and Ryan, Hoagie and Josh followed suit, but Manny still wasn't convinced that changed. Diego looks at Manny and isn't surprised that he's suspicious about this change. He sighed and said, "Manny, I know you and me have had a rough history here and I understand if you need time to think about this. But the Diego you used to know-he's gone."

"We'll see." Manny said.

With that, everyone was talking on the way to school and when they got there, Misty and Caitlyn saw them with Diego and they were surprised to see Diego actually smiling. They walked over to them and Misty asked, "What's the big idea?"

"Hey, Misty." Max said.

"What's he doing with you guys?"

"Hanging out with us."

"Is this a joke?"

Diego looks at Misty and said, "No, it's not a joke. I had a change of heart."

"Who changed you?" asked Caitlyn.

"I did." Max responded.

"You?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but Diego's now our friend and what he used to be is now nonexistent. So, I told him if he's willing to be our friend, he has to defend us and we'll defend him."

Caitlyn was suddenly convinced by that and told Max, "You do have a good heart, do you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"You sure it's real, Max?" asked Misty.

"Yes."

"I'd like to apologize for that little incident that occured a couple of days ago. I was just still dealing with my own problem." Diego said.

"Was that it?" asked Misty.

"Yeah, it was. I'm hoping to start fresh."

"Well...just as long as you're cool with us. Half of the students here love to make fun of emos."

"To be honest, I get called 'emo-freak' most of the time, because I am emo. It didn't bother me then and it's not gonna bother me now."

Everyone walked in the school and Mike and Cody walks by and to their surprise, Diego is with them. Mike followed them and looked at Diego for a bit and asked, "Diego? You guys are friends with him?"

"Well, Max is cool with him now and so are we." Frankie said.

"Almost everyone." Jared said.

Cody looked at Manny and asked, "You're not cool with him now?"

"Not really. I'm not sure if it's for real." Manny said.

"I don't know. I kinda think it's for real." Mike said.

"Even Mike agrees." Misty said.

Mike rolled his eyes and said, "This is who you'll deal with, Diego. Me and her always go at each other's throats all the time."

"Are you sure you're not brother and sister?" asked Diego.

Mike and Misty looked at each other and both groan in disgust and responded, "No!"

"If I was her brother, I would completely be anoyed by her constant phone chatting and gabbing about Twho-light, which is the most cheesiest movie ever." Mike said.

Misty gasped in offense and said, "It happens to be the best movie ever made! Plus, the vampire is so hot!"

"Exactly my point."

Cody looks at Diego and said, "Well, buddy. You're one of us now."

Then, at lunch, everyone else seems cool with Diego now as they all sat down and talked to each other. Max even explained how it came to be in front of everyone.

"...I sorta found this picture of his father in prison and it was pretty much the reason why Diego was a violent bully towards me and the rest of the group home. He and his father never got along and neither did his mother and they died in a car accident when he was 8 and got sent to group home where he's been staying in his room for eight years." Max said.

"Wow, really?" asked Zeke.

"Yep. I kinda felt sorry for him and I saw those black eyes and scars on his face and it made me feel more sorry for him."

"Who did that to you?" asked Jonah.

"Some stupid seniors here." Diego replied.

"Let me guess-Eric and his crew?" asked Jojo.

"That's them."

"Yeah, they always bully me too and they see me as defenseless, weak and puny."

"It kinda sucks to be bullied. I've been a bullied victim when I was six and I guess it had a deep impact on me, that depression, anger and hopelessness seeped inside my brain that it could never get out unti just yesterday. I was ready to move forward and just apologize to everything I've done since I was here."

"Well, we believe you. And I think you'll fit in with our group perfectly." Dustin said.

"You really think so?"

"No group member in this outcast group gets left behind."

Diego sighed softly and isn't surprised that Manny wasn't at all convinced and Josh looked at Manny and said, "So, when are you gonna give him a chance?"

Manny scoffs and said, "He pushed me out of a fire escape."

"You were dreaming it like 5 months ago."

"He would've done it."

"What's his deal?" asked Seth.

"Manny doesn't believe that Diego's changed a bit and has always been spreading crappy rumors about him and saying stuff that isn't true behind his back like a year or two ago." Hoagie said.

"Don't you think it's time to let it go?" asked Austin.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Most of the others felt kinda surprised at Manny for being like this and Diego didn't seem fazed at all. Diego then said, "I'll give him some time. If he's willing to swallow his pride, then hopefully, we'll get along."

"Hope you're right." said Max.

* * *

Seems as though everyone's accepting Diego...except for Manny. Will Manny be convinced? That's where the next chapter will explain it to ya.


	17. Giving a Chance, pt 2

And here we are! Will Manny accept him? One way to find out is to read!

* * *

Chapter 17: Giving a Chance, pt. 2

After school, the group went back to group home where Diego is now lying down on his bed, just taking a breather for a while. Then, he receives a knock on the door and he said, "Come in."

The door opens and it's Manny coming in the door, looking suspicious about his change. He sits down and said, "Okay, what's with this niceness thing? Why did you suddenly change?"

"You still think it's a fake?" asked Diego.

"Yes, I do. I'm not falling for this trick."

"What trick?"

"Being all cool with us and then remain an angry, threatening dude."

"That was the old Diego, okay? I thought you would be used to the new Diego, by now."

"Where is this new Diego?"

"He's right here."

"You don't have to fake it for us."

Diego sighs heavily and said, "I wasn't faking it. Everything Max said about my past was actually the truth. Do you know what it feels like to be beaten every single day by your dad and all you have left for it are scars all over your body? Do you have any idea what it feels like to feel hurt, sad, lonely and like you're nothing? You don't even know where I've been through in my life. My parents never wanted me in the first place and every single day, growing up, they always hate me because of the way I am and my dad always beats me up, abused me and my mom always neglected me. When you go through something like this, how can I fake that?"

Manny was confused and said, "I don't understand."

"Maybe this will explain." Diego said.

He lifted up his shirt and it exposes brutal scars all over his body and there's even a deep scar on his left and right arm that really surprised Manny and on his back, he showed him a deep long scar. Manny suddenly realizes that it is the truth and he said, "Wow. And I thought I had a rough upbringing."

"I've been fearful of my father when I was five and my mom never showed me any love at all, so I had to fend for myself. I never needed them in the first place, because they wouldn't give me the love and affection I needed and I spent eight years putting it on a wall to cover my true feelings."

Manny suddenly felt sorry for Manny about it and said, "You think you're the only one who's been through a lot? Look at my scars."

With that, Manny lifted up his shirt and showed him his scars as well. Diego looked very surprised that he had the same scars he got, but much different. Manny said, "This is what it actually looks like after you were from foster families to foster families, those of which are dysfunctional and figured you were a burden to them for so long. I've been at that lonely road before."

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Now that you mention it, it really does."

"Then you get my point."

Manny suddenly feels bad about not believing Diego before and said, "I don't know what to say except...I'm sorry for being so harsh to you this morning, because I didn't know that you were serious about it."

"It's okay."

"Well...maybe we got things off to a rough start in the past, so you wanna...try this again? Maybe be..."

"Friends? I would like that?"

Both Manny and Diego offered a handshake to each other and Manny said, "Hey, dude. I'm Manny."

"The name's Diego."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

They soon gave each other a hug and Manny realizes that there was more to Diego than meets the eye. Max was looking and knew that Manny would be friends with Diego now. Suddenly, Manny saw Max standing in the door and Max said, "I knew you guys would be friends."

Diego scoffs and said, "How long were you standing here, Max?"

"Lone enough."

"Well, okay. We're cool now." Manny said.

"I knew it. I knew you'd be cool with each other."

"Thanks a lot, Max."

* * *

And you guys were worried. Stick around for more!


	18. A Huge Surprise

Looks like there's gonna be good news, but at the end of this chapter, there will be a-and this is my first time-ginormous twist!

* * *

Chapter 18: A Huge Surprise

Frankie walks by the hallway of the group home and they spot Mike and Cody walking across the stairs. He was surprised to know that they were here for something cool and when Cody sees Frankie upstairs, he waved at him and and Frankie waved back as well. He walked downstairs and greeted him and said, "How's it going?"

"Pretty good." Cody said.

"What brings you guys by?"

"Well, we actually wanted to tell you and Max that you guys are gonna be adopted pretty soon, probably within the next couple of days."

Hearing this, Frankie was surprised and also amazed to know that it won't be long until him and Max are gonna get adopted pretty soon. He smiled and said, "That's awesome news. It's been a long time since we've been here and to know that we're gonna be taken in by you guys makes my day."

Mike looks at Frankie and said, "Dude, this is a great opportunity, not only for you, but for Max as well. It's definitely a cool way to start over and embrace being a part of our family."

"It feels awesome." Frankie said.

Max comes downstairs and sees Mike and Cody there with Frankie and he comes in, greets them and asked, "What's happening?"

Frankie was completely happy to tell Max the amazing news and said, "Dude...we're gonna be adopted."

Max's face lit up and asked, "We are?"

"Yeah, we are."

He didn't expect it to happen so quickly, because he just made friends and peace with Diego, but it was good news for him. Then, he looks at Frankie and said, "We're actually gonna be brothers, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Max chuckled and then hugged him tightly. Frankie was surprised and asked, "Okay, what was that for?"

"You've been like a brother to me since I was here and now we're actually gonna be real bros."

Frankie chuckled and said, "I know, right?"

Mike looked at them and felt happy that they're both happy as well. Max said, "So, when do you get adopted?"

"Probably for like a few days or so. My parents are just gonna sign some adoption papers and they'll let us know in a few days that it came through and you're considered part of the family."

"Cool with us."

Camille came in and sees Max standing there and said, "Heard you and Frankie are getting adopted."

"Yeah, we are." Max said.

She smiled and said, "Congratulations. I'm really happy for you guys."

"Thanks, Camille. That means a lot."

"I just want you to know, it's been great being friends with you. I've only been here for like 4 years and I'm still waiting to be adopted."

"I'm sure the right family will come along and take you in."

"You think so?"

"Yes."

"I'm gonna miss your sweet words, Max."

"Yours too, Camille."

They both hugged each other and embraced each other so much. Mike smiles and said, "Are you sure you're not a couple?"

Both Camille and Max scoffed at them and said, "No way!"

"We're like brothers and sisters." Max said.

"Exactly right." Camille said.

Then, Manny comes downstairs with Ryan, Jared, Hoagie and Josh and saw Mike and Cody with them and Jared asked, "What's going on, guys?"

"We just came in to let Max and Frankie know that we're gonna adopt them pretty soon." Mike said.

"You guys are getting adopted?" asked Hoagie.

"That's right." Frankie replied.

"That's awesome. I'm really happy for you guys." Ryan said.

"Thanks, dude."

Manny seemed happy for them and asked Frankie, "You'll visit sometime, right?"

"I'll drop by every now and again to see how things are going. That's a promise." Frankie said.

"That's cool."

Both Manny and Frankie did their handshake and hug together. Manny told Frankie, "Thank you for being my rock."

"The pleasure's all mine."

Then, Ryan, Jared, Hoagie and Josh went outside to play some basketball and later, Ms. H came out with Mr. and Mrs. McKinney and found that the adoption papers for Max and Frankie were signed. Mike asked, "So, how did it go?"

"Pretty well." Mr. McKinney replied.

"Also, Ms. Hart told us to sign another adoption form." Mrs. McKineny said.

"Another one?" asked Cody.

"Yep. She told us we're gonna adopt an extra one."

"Well, any idea who it might be?" asked Manny.

"I explained to Mr. and Mrs. McKinney something that you and Max can hear." Ms. Hannigan said.

"What's that?" asked Max.

"I suggested them that Manny should go with Frankie and Max."

Mike, Cody, Frankie, Manny and Max looked at each other and Mike asked, "Meaning...?"

"The real reason-Manny is Max's cousin."

All five of them were shocked to hear that and Manny and Max looked at each other in surprise and Max asked, "My cousin?"

* * *

Told ya there would be a twist! How'd I do, by the way? Stick around for more!


	19. Crazy Discovery

Was that cool or what? Here's more of this, as well as a new character.

* * *

Chapter 19: Crazy Discovery

Manny looked shocked and was stunned at this news, as did Max. He then said, "How can that be possible?"

"Well, to be fairly honest, Max's mother was Manny's older sister and she felt like she couldn't handle being a mother and after a few days of you being born, she sent you here for 15 years and then a few hours later, she committed suicide." Ms. Hart said.

Manny looked definitely distraught and could not believe this kind of news. As shocking as it was, he never knew Max was his cousin all this time. He looks at Max and asked, "I didn't know we were related."

"Neither did I." Max said.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I wanted to wait until you two saw each other again and the fact that you'd be older, but I had to explain that to Mr. and Mrs. McKinney, so I let them sign the adoption forms for not only Frankie and Max, but for you as well as their bonus adoption."

"Wow. Having Max, Frankie and Manny here in our house-talk about a bonus gift." Cody said.

"I never knew you guys were cousins." Frankie said.

"Neither did I."

"I guess what's important is that all three of us are gonna get adopted. And that means that you guys will be brothers too."

Max and Manny looked at each other and Max said, "I guess we'll give it a shot. Now that we're now related and neither of us saw it coming."

"Yeah. But at least I got to know you." Manny said.

"Same here."

"So, when do we get adopted?"

"In a few days, maybe a week." Cody said.

"I'd say eight days." Ms. Hart said.

"Eight days is cool for us." Mike said.

"We'll wait that long." Mrs. McKinney said.

"Thank you all so much for coming." Ms. Hart said.

"Thank you very much. I'm sure that Frankie, Max and Manny will be happy with us." Mr. McKinney said.

"See you guys later." Mike said.

"Later, guys." Frankie said.

A few hours later, they told the news to everyone and they were totally blown away by this. Ryan looked surprised and said, "That's amazing. You never told us you and Manny were cousins."

"That's because Ms. Hart told us today." Max replied.

"But now that you're gonna be adopted in eight days, that will mean you and Manny will be brothers." Jared said.

"Isn't that great?" Manny said.

"Completely."

"I'm gonna miss having you guys around." Josh said.

"So am I." Hoagie said.

"We'll come visit and see you guys whenever we can." Frankie said.

"Especially school." Manny said.

"That's awesome to hear."

"We won't leave until eight days so we have until then to have some fun and pretty much spend our final moments here with you guys." Manny said.

"And I'm sure someone will adopt you. You just got to believe." Max said.

"We will."

The next day, all of them went to school and saw the others there feeling happy for Frankie, Max and Manny. Max chuckles and said, "What's going on?"

"Mike told us that you three are gonna be in their family for a week." Jonah said.

"That means, you're officially gonna be part of our group." Jojo said.

"Awesome to hear." Frankie said.

* * *

And here's another adoption news for both Hoagie and Josh. Unexpected, right?

* * *

"Hey, Hoagie. My parents are considering you and Josh up for adoption pretty soon. Not sure when it'll happen, but they told me that our place is big enough for you guys to call it home." Marcus said.

When Hoagie and Josh heard that, they were speechless. Hoagie blinked and said, "That's radical, man."

"Congrats, you guys." Frankie said.

Later that day, when Max went over to lunch to meet up with the others, he sees someone getting bullied by a few seniors. He's familiar with the person and when they walk away laughing, he runs over to help him. The bullied victim-5'6, 145 pounds, 14 years old, male, dark midnight hair with streaks of green bangs, brown eyes, wearing a black T-shirt, dark blue jeans with a necklace that says, 'Lonely', black and grey striped fur-sees Max and groans softly. He gets himself up and said, "Every day, this happens. Why couldn't they just leave me alone?"

"Hey, Stephen." Max said.

"I mean, seriously, day in and day out, here and in the group home, I get bullied every single time. When does it end? Unfortunately, it can't because it's so freakin' hard to get over it!"

Silence filled the hallway as Max stared at Stephen for a while and said, "Here's your...bag."

Stephen receives the bag and then told Max, "Honestly, Max, I've been victimized all my life and it just sucks a lot."

"I guess this would be a bad time to tell you that I'm getting adopted, right?" asked Max, nervously.

Stephen froze for a minute and said, "You're getting adopted?"

"Yeah."

Stephen groans heavily and said, "That's just great! Just great! My best friend gets adopted and I'm left to fend for myself! Why?"

"I'll visit."

Stephen didn't believe that for a second and then walks away. He then said, "Guess I'll see you at lunch!"

Max walks on his way to the cafeteria and meets up with the others. Zeke asked MAx, "What kept ya so long?"

"Sorry. I saw Stephen getting bullied, as usual." Max answered.

Frankie groans and asked, "Again?"

"Yep."

"That guy's been a bully victim all his life and nobody can catch him a break."

"Um, excuse me. Don't mean to interrupt here, but who's Stephen?" asked Cyrus.

"Stephen's in our group home and he's been a bullied victim his entire life, like he gets bullied when he wakes up until he's asleep. Bullies always make Stephen's day horrible and it's drawn a huge impact on him, like there's no love inside of him."

"How long has he been in group home?" asked Caitlyn.

"10 years." Max replied.

"10 years?"

"Yep."

"Why 10 years?" asked Misty.

"His parents abused him as a kid and he gets picked on by bullies in different schools from Kindergarten to pretty much now. Even in group home, he gets bullied and no surprise, Nate and Hector bully him a lot."

"Does he even have a friend?" asked Mike.

"Just me and Frankie. When I first met him, he insantly clicked and Frankie always defended him like he defended me for the most part."

"That's gotta suck for him." Jojo said.

"It does. Plus, he always blames himself for his parents' abuse and their death a long time ago and for basically living, like he wants to die."

"I actually feel sorry for this Stephen." Caitlyn said.

Later on, Stephen comes through the cafeteria and suddenly, he gets tripped by some seniors. They all laugh at him and Stephen was totally angry about it and walked off. He then sees Max in the table, comes over to the table slams his lunchbox on the table and said, "Max, why would you do this to me? Why would you get adopted and not tell me about it? We always told each other everything."

"Lost track of time, Stephen. That doesn't mean I'll forget about you." Max said.

"Yes, it does."

"Hey, Stephen. I'm getting adopted too." Frankie said.

"Oh, great! Frankie too? Who else?"

"Um, me?" asked Manny.

Stephen rolled his eyes and asked, "What sick fiend plans to adopt you three?"

Mike and Cody raised their hands and said, "We're the sick fiends."

"And you must be Stephen." Misty said.

"Yeah, Stephen Culkin. Who are you?"

"I'm Misty and this is Caitlyn, Jojo, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Sam, Dustin, Zeke, Mike, Cody, Seth, Austin, Noah, Chad, Marcus, Josh, Hoagie, Diego, Ryan and Jared."

"I already know Jared, Ryan, Hoagie, Diego and Josh, thank you very much."

"Man, did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed." Zeke muttered.

Stephen groans and said, "This is all my fault. I should've stopped this from happening when I had the chance."

"It's not your fault. It just came out of the blue." Frankie said.

"How would you know?"

"It was a surprise to us too." Manny said.

Stephen sighed heavily and said, "I gotta go. Nice meeting you."

He walks away sadly and Caitlyn looks at him and said, "You weren't kidding."

"Yeah, he's been like that." Max said.

"I feel sorry for him, actually." Misty said.

"We all do. Maybe he should be one of us?" asked Jojo.

"Not sure if he's up for it, but I hope so. He's been a loner most of his life, because the friends that used to be his friends bully him too." Frankie said.

"I just hope he'll get adopted soon." Max said.

Max looks at Stephen, sitting in his table, eating lunch all by himself, feeling a bit of guilt and sad about everything that happened to his life and Max definitely felt sorry for him.

* * *

If you could describe Stephen in one word, what would it be? Well, you'll see more of him and how's that for a cool twist? Josh and Hoagie are gonna be adopted soon? Stick around for more!


	20. Adoption News

More adoption news heading your way!

* * *

Chapter 20: Adoption News

As the days pass by, it's now five days until Frankie, Max and Manny get adopted by Mike and Cody and they were stoked about it, as well as Manny and Max getting know each other about their family. Hoagie and Josh were looking forward to being adopted as well and all five of them were always talking about it and how it really came so quickly. All of a sudden, Marcus swoops in and sees both Hoagie and Josh in Manny's room and knocks on the door, which made all five of them turn their attention of Marcus as they greet him.

"Hey, how's it going, guys?" asked Marcus, happily.

"Doing awesome. We were just talking." Frankie replied.

"That's awesome. Hey, Hoages, Josh, you guys wanna meet my parents?"

"Uh, do we ever!" Hoagie exclaimed.

Josh and Hoagie followed Marcus downstairs and sees Ms. Hart with Marcus' parents as Hoagie and Josh sees them for the first time. Marcus turns to his parents and said, "Mom, dad, this is Josh Salvidar and Hoagie Young."

"Nice to meet you boys." Mrs. Swift said.

"Same here." Josh replied.

"I reckon you boys will fit in our family just fine." Mr. Swift said.

"So do we."

As Ms. Hart brings Marcus' parents to her office, they were left to just talking about how excited they are about this. He then said, "I think this is one of the coolest things that ever happened to us."

"Do you know how long have I been waiting for this to happen?" asked Josh.

"How?"

"A long time. As long as me and Hoagie have been here, we've been hoping which family adopts one of us or both. And we told ourselves that no matter who gets adopted, we'll always be brothers."

"But now, me and Josh are gonna be actual brothers. And we'll all be actual brothers in your family." Hoagie said.

"Can't get any moment more awesome." Marcus said.

Suddenly, Jojo comes in the door and Marcus sees him come in and said, "Hey, Jojo."

Jojo turns around and sees Marcus there and said, "Hey, Marcus, Josh, Hoagie."

"What you doing here?" asked Josh.

"Well, I came for Stephen, actually."

"Stephen's in his room, but I'm not sure if he wants to see anyone today." Hoagie said.

"Why?"

Hoagie sighed and told Jojo, "He's been bullied multiple times today and I think it's one of his bad days."

Jojo grew nervous and asked, "How bad?"

"If you count punching on walls and blaming himself for that situation bad."

"I kinda figured, but I'm gonna check on him, anyway."

"All right, it's your funeral, dude." Josh said.

Jojo heads upstairs and then stops and asked, "Later on, I'm gonna gather up the gang and you guys to my observatory today."

"Sure thing." Marcus said.

"Jojo has an observatory?" asked Hoagie.

"Yep. You guys should see this. It is like crazy-awesome."

Seconds later, Jojo headed to Stephen's room and he can tell by the 'Keep Out! Stephen Zone' sign on the front, he can tell it's his room. He knocks on the door and Stephen yells, "GO AWAY!"

"Stephen, it's Jojo. You know, from the cafeteria at school. Friends with Max."

Stephen reluctantly unlocks the door and then opens it and asked, "What do you want?"

"I just came to see if you're okay, actually."

"What do you know about me, anyway?"

"That you're Max's best friend, been a bullied victim-and I don't blame you-, and been abused when you were young. Sorry those things happened to you."

"Yeah well, I appreciate your concern, but I really don't feel like talking to anyone today. Plus, Max is going away and he didn't have the guts to tell me."

"It's not his fault."

"I know it's not, but it's my fault that I could've heard it and stopped it at anytime."

Suddenly, Max walks by, overhearing the conversation on the hallway, where he sees Jojo standing in Stephen's room. Jojo sighed and said, "There was nothing you could do. The only thing you could do is feel happy for Max."

"How could I feel happy for him if he's leaving? We've been through a lot togeher and I'm scared that it'll all be forgotten and I'll be left all alone...just like I have been since I came here."

"You won't be alone, Stephen."

Jojo turns around and sees Max behind him. He chuckled and said, "Hey, Max."

"Hi, Jojo." Max said.

"I was just checking on Stephen to see if he's okay."

"No, I'm not."

"Then, whatever you problem is, can you at least talk to me about it?"

"Look, I don't know you, okay? And I don't need anyone telling me about my problems. It's my fault for even being here!"

"Oh, come on, dude. Everything is not your fault." Max said.

"How do you know that? If I could've stopped my parents from abusing me, I wouldn't even be here, but I didn't! And now, you're going away and I'll be left behind like it happened to me after my parents left me here!"

"It happened to me too! And you won't be alone! Any family will be lucky to have you as a new member of their family!"

"BULLCRAP! JUST GO AWAY!"

Stephen then slams the door and Jojo seems kinda distraught about the whole thing. He sighs heavily and asked, "Think I made it worse?"

"No, Jojo. You didn't do anything. That's just how Stephen is. Sometimes he blames himself for all the drama in his life. It just sets a huge impact on him and he's never gonna get over it. But you did the right thing by checking on him."

Jojo chuckled and said, "Thanks, Max."

"No probs."

"Later today, I'm gonna take you guys to my observatory."

"You have an observatory?"

"Oh, yeah."

"I'm looking forward to see that."

Meanwhile, Marcus' parents went out and Ms. Hart told Hoagie and Josh that they're gonna get adopted in five days. Their reactions are full of happiness and surprise that this happened. Josh and Hoagie were stoked about being a part of the Swift family. Mr and Mrs. Swift were about to get home and Marcus told them that he'll be back for dinner, so he was left to hang with Josh and Hoagie. Later on, Jojo went downstairs and saw Marcus and asked, "How'd it go?"

"Awesome. They're gonna be adopted in five days and they'll be in my place and we'll be brothers." Marcus replied.

"Good to hear."

"How'd it go with this Stephen guy?"

"Not so good."

"Told ya he's not in a mood to talk to others. He's had his bad days and he doesn't want to talk to people when everything's bothering him." Hoagie said.

"Maybe he should be one of us."

"I thought the same thing as well."

"But he's been hopeless because he felt that he doesn't want to be in a family, because he's afraid that he might put a burden on them. As much as I told him it's not true, there's no convincing him." Josh said.

"Never stop trying, though. You guys wanna see my observatory?"

"Do we ever!"

"Let's gather up the gang and I'll show you guys around."

"Coolness!"

Marcus, Josh and Hoagie gathers up Ryan, Jared, Frankie, Max and Manny to bring them over to Jojo's observatory while he texted the rest of his friends to come with him to the observatory. After that, he sees Diego coming inside the house and he turned to Jojo and said, "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much. Hey, Diego. Wanna come see my observatory?" asked Jojo.

"Your observatory?"

"Yeah. It's pretty much my haven to get away from everything, including my dad."

"Like a get-away place?"

"Yeah."

"Sure thing, dude."

"Awesome."

Later, he received several texts from his friends, all saying that they're on their way. Josh, Hoagie, Marcus, Max, Manny and Frankie all come downstairs and told them, including Diego, "I'm gonna show you guys my observatory and I can assure you that it'll be awesome."

"Can't wait for it." Manny said.

They all went out of the group home and went on their way to the observatory for the first time.

* * *

Josh and Hoagie are getting close to adoption round! Next chapter, the observatory!


	21. Observatory Tour

And here's how the group home gang sees Jojo's observatory for the first time!

* * *

Chapter 21: Observatory Tour

As Jojo and Marcus take Frankie, Max, Manny, Diego, Hoagie, Josh, Jared and Ryan to Jojo's observatory, in comes Mike, Cody, Jonah, Sam, Travis, Hawk, Cyrus, Caitlyn, Misty, Zeke, Dustin, Seth, Austin, Chad and Noah coming along with them. Jojo looks up and sees the gang coming by, which made him all the more ecstatic and amazed to go to the observatory. When they got there, they saw that they were heading through the main entrance. Manny looks down and sees the entire entranceway and asked, "How do we cross there?"

Jojo chuckles and said, "Simple. You guys can take the slingshot."

Manny gulps and asked, "Slingshot?"

Most of them follow the entrance of the entire course and when they all got to the slingshot, most of them were anxious about entering in this slingshot. Diego looks up and asked, "Is it safe?"

"Yeah, it's safe. Just lay back and pull the lever."

Diego stretched back and then, he pulls the lever and unexpectedly, it goes down and he shoots up in the air and then makes it to the stairs. He walks up, then he looks down and said, "That's cool!"

Everyone else made it in the observatory and when they all got there, Jojo opened the bottom door as everyone made their way in. Frankie and Max gasped in extreme surprise as they saw the entire thing in their own eyes. Max asked, "Is this really your observatory?"

"Yep. Been here for several years as an escape from everything in my life, primarilly, my dad and other stuff in my life that I don't want to deal with."

"So, this is your getaway?" asked Manny.

"Yep."

"What do you make in here, anyway?" asked Diego.

"Musical instruments. Watch this."

Jojo went up to this one place, pulled the lever and it comes alive as it's playing music and then, he went through the kites and saws were playing like violins, then he goes through every bell, rode around the buller band ball, slides down as the two rubber band balls play drums, and some metal circles were falling from the ladder as Jojo slides from the ladder. Frankie, Max, Manny, Diego, Jared, Ryan, Josh and Hoagie could not believe their eyes when they actually see this in person. And then, Jojo heads to the top of the observatory and opens the roof and they saw the entire sky.

"Whoa...that's radical." Jared said.

"Told you he has the coolest observatory." Mike said.

Jojo comes down with a rope and all of the others climbed on it as they got a close peek at the amazing view before their eyes. Manny sighs in awe and said, "Would I give to have a view like this."

"To tell you the truth, if I had an observatory like that, I would stay up there forever." Diego said.

"You would?" asked Caitlyn.

"Well, only until dinner an stuff."

"You're so modest."

Misty looks at Caitlyn and asked, "Modest? Really?"

"I'm just trying to be nice."

"Dude, I honestly never saw a getaway place like this before. I always thought my room at group home would be a place to get away from everything." Ryan said.

"Well, it's an alternative for me." Jojo said.

Josh looked at this grey thing from the other side of the observatory, picks it up and looks at it. He asked, "What is this?"

Jojo looks over and told him, "This is the one that my dad used to put on his record player in his office to hear music. Naturally, it's known for that time we had that Horton incident a year ago."

"Wasn't Horton that elephant your dad was talking to?" asked Zeke.

"The same one."

"I remember that now. Someone said, 'YOPP!' in the middle of this chaos." Josh said.

Jojo chuckled and said, "That was me."

Josh turned around and asked, "That was you? I didn't know you were a part of this."

"Yeah, I helped saved Whoville and even after that, almost anybody took me seriously."

"I lived through that whole thing and everyone in the wntire group home all feel the same way when that happened. I guess we got together for that event, except for Diego, of course." Hoagie said.

"Well, I didn't exactly participate in it, because I still had too much to deal with." Diego explains.

"What did you dealt with?" asked Marcus.

"The pain I went through with my past and mostly, I didn't care about anyone or anything. I was all alone and no one really cared about me at all, so it's like 'What's the point?'."

"But, you're cool with us now." Jojo said.

"Jojo is the glue that keeps us together, no matter what." Cody said.

"Maybe he can keep us stuck with you guys?" asked Jared.

Jojo chuckled and said, "Of course I will."

"I wish I could say the same for Stephen." Max said.

"Not to worry. I'm sure some family will take Stephen in."

"Hey, how about us?" asked Jonah.

Jojo looked at Jonah and asked, "What?"

"Well, I just thought about it. What if Stephen could be a part of our family?"

"Our family's kinda big enough as it is."

"Well, hey. We might need an extra one."

"My dad did say he wanted 105 kids, so..."

"Your dad must want a big family." Dustin said.

"He grew up with a huge family, oldest of 200 kids."

"200?" everyone asked.

"True story."

"Well, that's huge." Misty said.

"I guess we'll work it out. So, what do you guys think about my observatory?"

"It's awesome." Max said.

"I wish we could come here all the time." Manny said.

"You're in luck-you guys can come in anytime you like." Jojo said, happily.

"Aw, thanks, Jojo."

Everyone looks at the skies at the observatory as they headed to the roof of the observatory and enjoyed the view and saw the entire city of Whoville from there. It was a breathtaking sight for them to see for the first time.

* * *

Awesome, isn't it? There's more adoption news in the next chapter!


	22. More Adoption News

And here's more...well, ya know.

* * *

Chapter 22: More Adoption News

Over the next few days, Manny, Max and Frankie were counting down the days until they get adopted with Mike and Cody's family. They were easily ecstatic about this whole ordeal. Same as Josh and Hoagie as they count it down as well to be taken in to Marcus' family and they were totally amped up about the entire thing and the fact that it happened so quickly.

Josh looked at Hoagie and asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

"Honestly, about the fact that we're actually gonna be bros to a new family. It's like overwhelming to me." Hoagie answered.

"I know. I feel the same way."

"Hopefully, neither one of us will screw up."

"Screw up? What do you mean?"

Hoagie sighed heavily and told Josh, "Well, throughout my years, my foster families I've been in in the past, I couldn't be the perfect son they expected and the fact that I was always scared of some dads that beat the crap out of me, regardless if it's a good or bad day, over something that was kinda ridiculous or made a small thing become a big deal. And...most of them kinda gave up on me, thinking that I'm worthless."

"I thought the same thing too. But we don't have to be perfect to keep them happy. The only thing we can do is just be ourselves."

"I don't know, Josh."

"Hey, Hoages. We'll be okay. All we gotta do is just move forward and make this a good experience for both of us. We don't have to worry about screwing up, because they'll love us, whether we screw up or not."

Hoagie sighed heavily and realized that Josh is positive about this thing and those words of encouragement pretty much lightened up Hoagie. He then asked, "Since when did you become a philosopher?"

"You couldn't even spell 'philosopher', dude."

Hoagie started laughing and Josh joined in too and both of the hugged each other. Hoagie suddenly have this feeling that they've gotten the start of being brothers after all. Suddenly, in comes Seth and Austin walking past the room and Austin saw Josh and Hoagie in the room. He chuckled softly and said, "Hey, guys."

Josh looked at the door and saw Austin standing in the door and asked, "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough."

Hoagie sees Austin and said 'hi' to him and asked, "What brings you by?"

"Well, my dad is interested in taking in some adopted kids and we were thinking we can adopt Ryan and Jared. Are they around?"

"Outside."

"Thanks."

Austin went downstairs and saw his dad standing there and he asked, "Where you going?"

"To get Ryan and Jared."

When Austin went outside, he saw both of them just playing some basketball. He walked towards their way and Jared saw him come over and he said, "Hey, Austin."

"What's up, guys?"

"What brings you here?"

"You guys wanna meet my dad?"

"Your dad?" asked Ryan.

"Yeah."

"Um...okay."

Jared and Ryan followed Austin towards the inside and they see his dad standing there. Austin went over and said, "Guys, this is my dad. That's Ryan and Jared."

"How you boys doing?" asked Mr. Zuckerman.

"Great." replied Jared.

"So, what's the deal?" asked Ryan.

"Seth and Austin told me about you boys and I had an idea that maybe...you guys might need a father. So, I was thinking..."

"Are you saying you're gonna...adopt us?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Ryan and Jared looked at each other and figured that's what it's all about. They smiled and both replied, "Awesome!"

Austin chuckled softly and said, "You guys will be brothers, which means you guys will be our brothers."

"That makes it all the more awesome." Jared said.

"Speaking of brothers, where's Seth?" asked Mr. Zuckerman.

"Might be still upstairs." Austin said.

The door opens and it's Ms. Hart coming out of the office calling for Mr. Zuckerman to come to her office and talk this whole thing down. Meanwhile, Jared and Ryan were definitely stoked about getting adopted by Seth and Austin's father. Austin went upstairs to look for Seth, but Seth came downstairs and saw Austin there. He said, "I was going up looking for you."

"So did I. I was chatting with Frankie and the gang." Seth said.

They both went downstairs and Seth saw Jared and Ryan down there and he said, "Oh, I see you found Ryan and Jared."

"Told them the good news already." Austin said.

"And it was awesome news." Ryan said.

"Me and Jared have come a long way of being shipped from foster home to foster home and we're hoping that this can be our real home." Jared said.

"Trust me, it'll be awesome."

Then, suddenly Stephen walks by, soaking wet, looking upset and Jared looks at Stephen and said, "Dude, you're soaked."

Stephen looks at Jared and said, "Nate and Hector just can't stop themselves, can't they? Don't they have anything better to do, other than making my life miserable?"

"Okay..."

"Hey, Stephen. Remember us?" asked Seth.

"Yeah, why?"

"We met in the cafeteria while you were venting to Frankie and Max the other day."

Stephen groans in embarassment and covers his face with his hand and said, "Why couldn't I just shut up?"

"Bullying always gets to him and he kinda blames himself for everything, including his past." Ryan said.

"I'm in the room, you know."

Jared rolls his eyes and sighed in exasperation of it. Suddenly, Ms. Hart comes in with the adoption form that's been signed and she told Mr. Zuckerman, "I'll keep you posted in a week."

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Mr. Zuckerman said.

"So what's up?" asked Austin.

"Signed both forms for Jared and Ryan and she told me I'll take you guys in my place in a week."

Ryan and Jared high-fived each other and then to Seth and Austin for that excitement. Stephen looks at this and looks enraged about the news and Seth and Austin were heading home and they said 'bye' to Ryan and Jared. After that, they were super-stoked about being adopted.

"How cool is that? We have a week, dude." Ryan said.

"Oh, way cool." Jared said.

"So looking forward to this in a week."

"Same here, bro."

"Big flippin' deal! First, Frankie, Max and Manny gets adopted, then Josh and Hoagie and now you guys? Why do I feel like no one's gonna stick up for me and I have to be the one to suffer for it? It's like I'm being trapped in a corner and I can't get out of it. Why do I keep losing my best friends?"

"Dude, what's your problem?" asked Ryan.

"Why are all my friends going away is my problem. After this, I don't know how long it'll be until someone looks for me."

"Some family will adopt you. You just have to be patient and just believe, you know? You can't let the past affect you for the rest of your life." Jared said.

"Why couldn't I have stopped this from happening?"

"You weren't there!"

"Well, you were there when the news broke out, but you weren't there when Seth and Austin first said it." Ryan said.

"Oh, good point."

Stephen grew angry and asked, "Why can't everything in my life go right?"

He then walks upstairs, went into his room and slammed the door. Ryan and Jared looked at each other and Jared said, "Well, at least he took it well."

"He might get over it." Ryan said.

"Yeah, you're right."

They also hear Stephen screaming, punching walls and throwing things in the room which made them think he's taking this hard. Jared chuckled and said, "Or maybe not."

"Wanna get back to basketball?" asked Ryan.

"Right behind ya."

* * *

Some people can't take the news well. Well, Jared and Ryan are getting adopted. Stay tuned for more!


	23. Last Day of Group Home

Here's the gang celebrating their final days of being in the group home before getting adopted.

* * *

Chapter 23: Last Day of Group Home

It was now the final hours for Frankie, Max, Manny, Josh and Hoagie as they pack up and looked forward to being adopted by two different families. For Frankie, it was definitely bittersweet for him to experience. He sighed heavily and looked back on all the memories that were shared with Max in that room. Max looks at Frankie and asked, "You okay?"

Frankie sighs and replied, "Yeah. I'm cool. I'm sure gonna miss this place."

"I know, me too. But at least we waited this long to be adopted by a family."

"Same here, Max. You know, over the past nine years, we've been stuck together like glue and we've become like the best of friends. Now that we're gonna be adopted, we'll be brothers."

"I feel the same way. Both of us really stuck it out here."

"What will you miss about this place?"

"We've got a lot of good memories here, not to mention a lot of fun here. And some good friends."

"You know what I will miss the most?"

"What's that?"

"The fact that it's been nine years since I came here, it feels like I've been here all my life, despite all the loneliness I faced. Whenever some person gets adopted, it's like seeing one of my family going away. Anyways, I'm gonna miss the fact that I shared this room with you. That's the one thing I'll miss more than anything."

"Me too."

Just then, Manny walks to the room and sees Max and Frankie, talking. He knocked and said, "Mind if I join you?"

"No probs." Frankie replied.

Manny came in the room and Max said, "Hey, cuz."

"What's up, cuz?"

Frankie chuckled and said, "You guys were like family before Ms. H told you that you guys were cousins."

"Yeah, well. Now we get to be brothers."

"How awesome is that?" asked Max.

Manny chuckles and gives Max a little noogie, which Max made laugh as well. Frankie looks at Max and said, "You're laughing."

"Yeah, I am."

"I haven't heard you laugh like that in...so long."

"Me neither." Manny said.

"Well, I was still in my dark cloud days. But all that's changed a little and I have Jojo and the others to thank."

"It's like our last day here, so let's make it count." Frankie said.

"I agree."

"Mind if we join in?" asked Hoagie.

"Sure thing."

Hoagie and Josh came in the room and completely wanted to make the best of their last day of group home. So the whole day, they went around with the other kids to play some basketball, show off their guitar skills and also do some dancing as well. While doing that, Jonah and Jojo went over the group home and saw what's going on there. They looked at each other and pretty much entered the place there and saw that there was some fun going on there. Max looks up and sees Jonah coming in the gate and greets them.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" asked Max.

"I don't know. You tell me." Jonah replied.

"We're just enjoying the last day of being here before me, Frankie and Manny head over to live with Mike and Cody."

"That's awesome. We were just coming in to check on you guys."

"We're doing awesome."

"Glad to hear."

All of a sudden, in comes Noah with his skateboard coming to the group home, skating pass Jojo and Jonah and he said, "What's up, guys?"

"Not much. Just hanging out." Jonah replied.

"So, what's going on here?"

"We're just celebrating the last days of being in this group home until tomorrow." Frankie said.

"I heard that you guys are getting adopted by Mike and Cody's parents. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"Anyways, I came over because I wanted to see you guys."

"That's great, man."

"Anyways, is Diego gonna be adopted soon?"

"Not sure."

"Wonder who's gonna take him in?"

"Maybe you should." Max said.

"Me? Why not? Do you have any siblings?"

"Well, I have one older brother, one younger sister and two younger brothers. Ages 17, 13, 12 and 10."

"And you're the middle one?" asked Jonah.

"I guess I am."

"Why not let Diego adopt you?"

"Gee, I don't know. My parents used to be in foster care and they are willing to help out anyone they can."

"Maybe you can let Diego be a part of your family." Max said.

Noah didn't know what he's gonna do in this situation, but he does have a feeling that having another older brother will be a little crazy. But he's up for the task. He turns around and said, "I guess we can make this work."

"Coolness."

"My parents wanted to adopt, anyway. I'll send them a text."

"So, dare I ask, how's Stephen?" asked Jojo.

"Still holed up in his room." Manny said.

All of a sudden, Jared and Ryan comes over and sees the gang there. They greeted them and Ryan asked, "How's it hanging, guys?"

"We're doing good. Heard you guys are getting adopted soon." Jonah said.

"Yep. Seth and Austin are gonna take us in."

"How long until?"

"A week. So, we'll pretty much be spending the last week here."

"I got an idea-since you guys are spending the last day here, we might celebrate with you." Jared said.

"Really?"

"Yep, it's an awesome way to kick off our last week."

"That'll be so awesome." Max said.

"Wanna join us?" asked Manny.

"Sure thing." Jojo said.

Jojo, Jonah and Noah joined in all the fun they're having and for the first time, everything was gonna turn out extremely well for themselves. A few hours later, after Jojo, Noah and Jonah went home, Frankie, Max, Manny, Hoagie and Josh head over to dinner, which is their final night there. Just then, Camille walks by Max and said, "Hey, Max."

"Hey, Camille." Max said.

"I'm really happy that you, Manny and Max are getting adopted soon."

"So are we."

"I'm gonna miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you too. I'll come by to visit, if someone hasn't adopted you yet."

Camille starts giggling and said, "I'll miss your humor, Max."

"I'll miss your laugh. I promise you a family will come by and take you in."

"Aw, thank you."

Camille comes in and gives Max a kiss on the cheek and walks off. Max sighs softly as she walks away. He looks up and sees Josh, Hoagie, Frankie and Manny giggling and making kissing noises. Max rolls his eyes and said, "It was just a peck on the cheek, wishing me good luck."

"Or maybe even an 'I miss you times more' kiss." Hoagie said.

"You guys..."

Just then, Diego walks downstairs and plans to sit with Max. As Max looks at Diego, he said, "How's it going?"

Diego looks at Max and replied, "Just fine. You know, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"I saw you guys having fun today and I wished I would've joined in."

"Yeah, where were you?" asked Manny.

"I was in my room, where else?"

"At least you're cool with us now." Max said.

"Yeah, I am. I just wanted to say...'thanks'."

"Thanks for what?"

"For breaking the resentment, anger and anguish that's been inside of me for eight years and you helped me release some of the bitterness that's been in my heart for so long. I'm just anxious about being adopted to another family, because I don't want to put a burden on their shoulders."

"You won't. Any family would love to have you, but you've got to make an effort."

"I'll try."

Camille looks up and sees Diego sitting next to Max. She said, "You guys are friends, now?"

"Yeah, we are." Max said.

"That's good."

"Hey, Camille. How about a truce?"

Diego takes out his hand and proceeds to make amends with Camille and she shaked his hand without hesitation. All of a sudden, camera kept flashing all over Camille and Diego. Suddenly, Nate screamed out, "PAPARAZZI!"

Hector laughed hysterically and said, "You should've seen the look on your faces!"

Camille got really ticked and said, "How do you like this face?"

"Ooh, I'm so scared. I can't risk being beat by a girl!" Nate said, mock scared.

Diego clears his throat and said, "Unless you guys don't want to risk getting pulverized, I suggest you leave Camille alone."

"Since when did you become the defending type?" asked Hector.

"Why don't you guys just leave us all alone?" asked Max.

"Who says, loser?"

"Just be glad we're gonna be gone tomorrow."

"Oh, we will...when we take over your room!" Nate exclaimed.

"BOYS!"

Nate and Hector looked up and saw Ms. Hart standing there and she said, "That's enough! Both of you are not gonna take over Max and Frankie's room when they're gone tomorrow. Now, leave them alone. You've already caused enough trouble in these few weeks."

"Oh, whatever! Tell them they're the ones that started it." Hector said.

"I saw you both taking pictures and screaming, 'paparazzi'. You two have instigated them enough. Now head to your rooms."

Nate and Hector went upstairs, but not before grabbing Max's chair and let it fall down on the ground, with Max on the ground as well. Nate laughed hysterically as they ran upstairs to their rooms. Max groans and gets himself up and picks up the chair, dusted himself off and sat back down.

"I knew they'll never learn to mess with me."

"You did punch them in the face, but it never had any effect on them." Josh said.

"They'll just torture another bully victim, no matter what you do with them."

"If it were me, I'd show them who's boss." Diego said.

"Like what?"

"I'll give them a taste of their own medicine."

"Like use their bullyness against them?" asked Max.

"Yep. I'll guarantee ya, they'll never torture another person again."

"Did anyone check on Stephen?" asked Camille.

"I'm about to."

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Stephen screamed, in his room.

The door opens and another who comes out and said, "So sorry. I did not know it was your room. I was just-"

Then, the door slams and comes down the stairs, looking a little stunned. The who-16, female, blue eyes, 5'1, 142 pounds, grey and pink striped fur, blonde hair, wears a pink and purple T-shirt and rhinestone jeans-sits down at the table with her hands on her hair, looking so upset.

Frankie looks at her and asked, "You okay, Mischa?"

Mischa sighed softly and said, "No, Frankie. I don't know why Stephen yelled at me."

"Maybe I'm having second thoughts about checking on him." Max said.

"You were gonna check on Stephen?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that. He is never gonna forgive me."

"I think he's blaming himself."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. I'm gonna miss you guys a lot."

"We'll miss you too, Misch."

The gang continues talking while they're eating at the table, basically enjoying their last meal together. Not long after, Max walks to his room to pack, but not before Stephen comes in from behind. Max turns around and sees Stephen there, looking a little upset. Max said, "Hey, Stephen."

"Max."

Max sighed heavily and said, "I know you're still upset with me, but can't you be happy for me, just this once?"

"How can I be happy knowing my best friend's gonna leave me here hanging?" asked Stephen.

"Look, I'm not leaving you hanging. Just because I'm getting adopted doesn't have to put a strain on our friendship."

"It already has to me. Pretty soon, you'll be with a family and forget all about me."

"That's not true. I'll come by and visit sometime. A family will take you in. You just gotta think positive."

"Who cares? I've already been a burden to my family when I was young. I don't want to be a burden to another one."

"You gotta let go of the past. Anyone would be lucky to be a part of their family."

With that, Max walks to the room, leaving Stephen in the hallway, still looking upset and he felt like things will never be the same after Max leaves. He sighs heavily and walks back to his room and lays down on his bed, with tears falling from his eyes as he heard the voices coming out of his head.

'No family will adopt you!'

'You'll be a burden to that family as you did with the ones you had!'

'You're worthless!'

'You're nothing! That's all you are and ever will be!'

Stephen starts crying in his pillow and said, tearfully, "This is all my fault. If only I stopped Max from being adopted."

* * *

Don't you just feel sorry for Stephen? The next chapter...Frankie, Max, Manny, Josh and Hoagie...THEY'RE GETTING ADOPTED! vampire1031, I'm gonna post the next chapter and you'll see it pretty soon. I promise. Wait for it...


	24. The Big Day

And here it is! Finally, the one we've all been waiting for...Josh, Hoagie, Manny, Max and Frankie gets adopted!

* * *

Chapter 24: The Big Day

The next day, Manny, Max and Frankie are getting ready to be with a new family as they pack up their stuff and take a last look at the room that Frankie and Max shared. Frankie chuckled and said, "Good memories here."

"Yep. We had a lot of fun here." Max said.

"And most of that is me coming in to hang out with you guys." Manny said.

"Well put." Frankie said.

Max sighs heavily and said, "Frankie..."

"Yeah, Max?"

Max closed his eyes and remained silent for a while until he said, "For the past nine years, I felt like I was alone after my parents dropped me off and then you came along and really put me out of the dark hole I was living in. I always thought we were brothers, but now we're gonna be actual brothers. So I want to thank you for coming into my life."

Frankie puts his hand on Max's shoulder and said, "I feel the same way about you. I'll never forget that first day we met when I defended you from Nate and Hector. I wouldn't be surprised if they were still here, though."

Max chuckled and said, "Yeah, they'd probably scare any family away when they come here. But I'm lucky to leave those memories behind and make some new memories."

Hoagie comes by and knocks on the door and said, "You guys ready?"

"More than anything." Manny said.

"So are we."

Josh comes in and with a bandana on his head and that gave some attention and he asked, "What ya think?"

"I think you have a fashion mishap." Max said.

"He thinks that it'll look cooler for him." Hoagie said.

Manny chuckled and told Josh, I know cool and this one...scale of one to ten, it's a seven and a half."

"I was hoping for a nine, but I'll take seven and a half." Josh said, chuckling.

Just then, Diego comes in the room and asked, "Can I talk to you guys?"

"Sure thing." Josh said.

Diego comes in the room and sits down on the edge of Frankie's bed and said, "You know, we've never really hung out before on account of me being in a dark and angry cloud that I was in and for my temper. When I look back now, I totally regret it and I should've been more friendlier to you guys. I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, we make mistakes and we screw up, but we move forward with our lives." Frankie said.

"You know, I will miss you guys."

"So will we."

"I hope this Diego stays true to your promise, Max." Manny said.

Max chuckled and said, "I hope so too."

"What, you guys don't trust me?"

"Yeah, we do. I trust you, right guys?"

All of them agreed with Max and Diego lightened up a bit. Diego sighed heavily and said, "I wish I could be with you guys."

"I was thinking the same thing." Josh said.

"Someone will adopt you, D. They would be lucky to be a part of your family." Hoagie said.

Max puts his hand on Diego's shoulder and said, "Yesterday, Noah was thinking about adopting you."

Diego looks at Max with a questionable look and also a hopeful look and asked, "He is?"

"Yeah. Jojo and Jonah talked him into it and we're just waiting for his response soon."

Soon, Diego's hope turns into anxiety and nervousness as the news sunk in. He sighs heavily and said, "I hope it happens."

"It will. Just don't worry so much."

Later, Jared and Ryan came in the room and Jared was the first to say something to Frankie and Max. He said, "You guys are amped about being adopted?"

"We are." Manny replied.

"Glad to hear ya say that. Me and Ryan are waiting for six days to be taken in with Seth and Austin."

"Congrats to you guys." Diego said.

Jared and Ryan looked at Diego and sees him smiling for the first time. They both smiled and said, in unison, "Thanks, dude."

"Maybe after you guys get adopted, we can still be in the same school with Jojo and his friends." Frankie said.

"That's an awesome thing."

"How's Stephen, by the way?" asked Ryan.

Max sighed heavily and replied, "How do you think he's doing?"

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"You know, Stephen has been taking it real hard since you told him we're getting adopted a few days ago." Frankie said.

"It's not my fault that I didn't tell him."

"I know. We've been friends for so long and it's like the news hit a ginormous impact on him and it affected him a lot. I tried to tell him that a family will adopt him, but he wouldn't believe a thing I said."

"Maybe I can help out on it." Diego said.

"It's useless. It's not gonna help, no matter what any of us say."

Then, Ms. Hart comes up to the room and tells Max, "Mike and Cody are here. You three packed up?"

"We are." Frankie said.

"We'll see you guys around." Jared said.

"Same here."

They reached over and gave everyone a hug. For Diego, it was bittersweet to see them go, especially Max. Max comes over to Diego and gives him a big hug. He suddenly holds on to Max, like he was his little brother. He closed his eyes as he continued to hug him, because it feels like he wants to join him, Frankie and Manny with them. They let go and Max told him, "Remember what I said, okay?"

"I will." Diego whispered, tearfully.

They continued hugging each other and then, Frankie, Max and Manny went out of the room and headed downstairs and saw Mike and Cody hanging around downstairs as well. After 5 minutes, Ms. Hart came out with Frankie, Max and Manny and Mike and Cody were totally ecstatic about having them as brothers.

"This is so gonna be cool." Cody said.

"Can't believe you guys are living with us." Mike said.

"We're happy to be a part of your family." Max said.

"So are we."

The McKinney family went all the way home with Max, Frankie and Manny to their house and when they got there, it was the same as they last saw, to Max and Frankie. Manny looks around for the first time and looked amazed by it. He said, "I didn't know it was this huge."

"It's cooler." Frankie said.

"Your rooms are upstairs. You're next door to Mike and Cody."

They went upstairs with their luggage and Frankie went over to the first room from the left and there were two beds there. Frankie takes the first one and Max comes in as sees Frankie in there. He chuckled and said, "This is nice."

"You know what else is cool? This one has two beds." Frankie said, happily.

"I'll got this one!" Max exclaimed, as he jumps on the second bed and lays there. He laid there, smiling and looking excited.

All of a sudden, Manny comes in the room and said, "Nice."

"Where'd you come from?"

"My room. It has a bathroom attached you guys' rooms."

Max and Frankie followed Manny and sees that there is a bathroom next to their room and leads to Manny's room. They saw it and it was the coolest room ever. Max said, "Wow. That is super-cool."

"It's got a micro-fridge, big screen TV and also video game console." Manny said.

"I'm so amazed to be in this home."

"Same here."

They huddled together and Frankie said, "We are grateful to be a part of this new family and we will always remember this day as one of the best days ever."

"And we stand as actual brothers to each other and Mike and Cody as well and we're so thankful for that." Manny said.

"I guess we'll be a part of what they're doing." Max said.

"That'll be awesome."

Just then, the door opens and it's Mike coming in and asked, "So, how you guys liking the rooms?"

"Too much, dude." Manny replied.

"You know, if there's anything you need or if you need someone to talk to, just come to me, Cody and our parents. We're a huge family."

"We will."

Mike smiled and said, "Welcome home, you guys."

"Thanks, Mike."

"So, I guess this means we will be brothers for life?"

"Don't jinx it."

"Got it."

Hours later, Josh and Hoagie were downstairs, just waiting for Ms. Hart to consider both of them adopted by the Swift family. Just then, Stephen came downstairs and he saw Hoagie and Josh sitting there. He asked, "Has anyone seen Max? I just wanted to wish him good luck."

"He already left, along with Manny and Frankie." Hoagie answered.

Stephen's heart sunk to the ground as it came out. He asked, "What? I never got a chance to say 'goodbye'?"

"I'm sorry, Stephen."

Stephen became very upset and angry about this and felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest and ran back upstairs and went back to his room and slammed the door. Josh sighed heavily and said, "He's never gonna get over it, won't he?"

"Hard to say." Hoagie answered.

Seconds later, Ms. Hart comes up to them and asked, "You boys ready?"

"We are."

Ms. Hart comes out of the door with them and brings them to Mr. and Mrs. Swift, along with Marcus. Marcus smiled and said, "Hey, bros."

"What's up, bro?" asked Josh.

They all went home and went into the house and Josh and Hoagie saw it for the first time and was blown away by it. They were totally surprised to see what it looks like in their own eyes. Josh said, "Wow, this is awesome."

"You like?" asked Marcus.

"Love it."

"We have two guestrooms here. Both of them are yours, though they are separate."

"We're cool with it." Hoagie said.

They went upstairs and Hoagie went to his room and it was the best room he ever saw. He dropped his bags and went to his bed and sat down there. He chuckled and said, "This is the start of my new life."

Then, Josh went to another room and it has a lot more space than the one in the group home. He started smiling and he felt like this is the coolest room he's ever been in. Suddenly, Marcus comes in and said, "How'd you like it?"

"I love it, dude."

Marcus smiles and said, "Just know that if you guys need anything, my room is right there, first door from the right."

"Sure thing. We really appreciate it."

"Thanks...bro."

"You're welcome...bro."

Marcus and Josh gave each other a hug and then, Hoagie joins in as well, feeling like they're lucky to have a home and a part of their family.

Mr. Swift looked at it and Marcus sees a camera there and he said, "Dad, what are you doing?"

"I wanna take a picture of this." Mr. Swift said.

He takes the picture and looks at it and sees it as a good picture. He chuckled and said, "I'm gonna put this on Whosebook."

"Oh, dad. Please don't."

"Nah, I'll just put it on my pictures folder on my computer."

He walks off the room and Marcus sighed heavily about this. Josh asked, "Is your dad always like this?"

"Somewhat. But you ought to see his pizza ideas. It's weird."

"He works as a pizzeria?" asked Hoagie.

"Has his own pizza shop."

"Isn't that awesome?"

"Yep. But it's kinda weird for me to digest. But his dinner ideas, it kinda sucks a little, but I make pizza better than him."

"I would like to see that."

"You will."

Back at group home, Diego walked through the hallway and went to Frankie and Max's room and sees it empty. The fact that they're not around anymore really made a mark on him, thinking that he could've hung out with them more, if he hadn't have been so gloomy and angry all the time. He sighs sadly and went inside and sits down on Max's bed with tears streaming through his face and said, tearfully, "Thank you, Max...for everything."

With that, he got up and walked out of the room, then stopped and looked back at the room and tears began falling down from his face and then closed his eyes and closed the door and went back to his room and sat down on his bed and laid there, hearing Max's voice in his head.

'Someone will adopt you. You just gotta believe. You have to make the effort.'

Diego broke down and started crying softly as he puts his face on his pillow and continued to cry. He then whispered, "I promise, Max...I will."

Later, Stephen was upset about the fact that Max went away with a new family without even saying goodbye. He was so angry at himself, he said, "How could you not say goodbye to Max? I would've..."

His voice choked into sobs as he starts crying in anguish and in regret that he pushed Max from everyone else. He whispered, "It's all my fault. It's all...my fault."

* * *

The ending...kinda bittersweet. Stay tuned for more! Don't worry, vampire1031. Diego and Stephen will get adopted.


	25. Adjusting

Here's how Josh, Hoagie, Manny, Max and Frankie adjust to life after group home. And about Diego...well, find out for yourself.

* * *

Chapter 25: Adjusting

A few days pass by after Manny, Max, Frankie, Hoagie and Josh were adopted by separate families and one morning, as Max, Frankie and Manny went off to school along with Mike and Cody, they were all just talking and laughing and stuff and just then, in comes Jojo, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis, Sam, Noah, Zeke and Dustin coming from behind. They looked and Mike said, "Morning, guys."

"Morning to you." Jojo said.

"How's it going?"

"Not much. You?"

"Going great."

"Congrats to you guys being adopted. How did it go?" asked Jonah.

"It was awesome. For me, Manny and Frankie, it was the first time we actually had dinner together as a family and it feels like it was something that I would definitely take in." Max said.

"Mom and dad completely got to know our new brothers and they really get along so well." Cody said.

"That's great to hear." Jojo said, happily.

"For me, personally, me and Max and Manny have grew closer and closer towards these guys and it's like we're inseparable. Like, there's nowhere else I'd rather be than with these guys." Frankie said.

"So, I took in what you said about my parents taking in Diego and they said that they're gonna adopt him. Luckilly, our house is huge and has several bedrooms and there was one bedroom that's always been a guestroom and it's now gonna be Diego's room." Noah said.

"How is Diego, by the way?" asked Max.

"I've visited the group home yesterday to check on him and he's doing okay. Says he's been a little down after you left, but told me that he's happy for you, Frankie and Manny. When I told him that he'll be a part of our family, we got into this 25 minute conversation and he said that he's very interested in being a part of our family. So, my parents stopped by, filled their papers and Ms. Hart said that we'll take him in our home in three days."

"Three days? That's a quick time." Travis said.

"Yeah, but Diego was really excited about it."

All of a sudden, Marcus comes by with his skateboard and catches up with the gang. Everyone looks up and sees Marcus with his skateboard and said, "What's up, guys?"

"Not much, Marcus." Jojo answered.

Then, suddenly, Josh and Hoagie catch up with Marcus as they see him with the others. To Max, Frankie and Manny's surprise, Josh suddenly saw them with Hoagie and all of them reunited for a group hug. Josh laughs and said, "How you guys doing?"

"Awesome! You?" asked Frankie.

"The same. I haven't seen you guys in like, ever." Hoagie said, laughing.

"How's life with Marcus?" asked Manny.

"Oh, it's great. We became this really big family after we settled in and we all got along so well."

Frankie laughs and said, "I missed you guys."

"It's been like, four days already and you miss us?"

"Yeah."

"We miss you guys too."

They all continued their way to school and as soon as they came in, in comes Eric and his gang, staring at them with dirty looks. Jojo scoffs and rolled his eyes and told them, "Watch out, Eric and his group are giving us their dirty 'I hate emo freaks' look.'"

They ignored the stare and they went inside the school hallway. Soon enough, Mike, Cody, Jojo and Max went to their lockers to take out some books. Mike looks at MAx and asked, "So, how do you think Stephen's doing?"

Max sighed exasperatedly and said, "If I know Stephen, he's probably still holding resentment towards me after I got adopted or maybe even keeps blaming himself to stop me from getting adopted. But we both know it was gonna happen anyway."

"It's not your fault." Jojo said.

"I know, but whatever Stephen says won't make it go away."

"That sucks, dude." Cody said.

"I hope he does get adopted somehow."

"Maybe I can talk my parents into taking him in." Jojo said.

"You sure, Jojo?"

"I'm positive. Maybe he'll realize that maybe being adopted won't be so bad after all."

"I guess, when you put it that way."

"Okay. Well, me and Cody will meet you in first period."

"All right."

Max got most of his stuff and closes the locker and heads on his way. However, he sees Nate and Hector standing in front of him. Max groans and said, "Does this have to happen today?"

"Who can take in a doofus like you?" asked Nate.

"Look, I really don't have time to deal with you douchebags right now, so can you get out of my way before I give you guys another black eye?"

Max tries to go, but Hector holds him off. They looked extremely serious and Nate said, "The only place you'll ever go is in the trash can, but first..."

Hector comes into Max's face and punches him in the face, then throws him towards the locker and falls down on the floor. Max groans softly and then, Nate comes in to kick Max in the stomach. Max cried out in pain and Nate shouts, "GET UP!"

Max groans in pain and then, Nate kicks him again and Hector comes in and pins him down. Max tries to get out, but Nate grabs him by the ankles and drags him towards the lockers and proceeds to slam his face in the lockers and then Hector punches him in the face, eyes, nose, head, chin and slams him to the floor.

Max pants softly and is in complete pain as he tries to get out, but Nate shoves him down the floor. Hector looked at Max and said, "How can a stupid wimp like you get adopted by some stupid family that doesn't even want you in the first place?"

"It's attitudes like that that keeps you from getting adopted." Max said.

Nate grabs Max by the neck, which made him choke, and asked, angrily, "What did you say?"

"You heard me."

Looking heated, Nate plans to give Max the final blow, but suddenly-

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU STUPID PIECES OF CRAP!"

Nate and Hector look up and it's Diego coming in to the rescue. He walks up to them, grabs Nate by the neck and tells him, "Put...Max...down...now."

"You're gonna have to make me." Nate said.

Diego gave him a sucker-punch to the jaw and throws him in the locker, then comes at him and kicks him in the groin. Nate groans in pain and falls down on the floor. Then, he looks at Hector and suddenly, Hector grew fearful and puts Max down on the floor and runs away, screaming like a little girl.

Diego pants sharply, scratches his hair, then looks at Max and asked, "You okay?"

Max groans and picks himself up off the floor and then, looks at Diego and said, "I am now."

Diego smiles at Max and rubs his head, which made him smile and Diego told him, "Congrats on being adopted to a new family, by the way."

"Heard that Noah plans to adopt you soon."

"Yeah. I think it'll be good for me. And I just want to thank you for putting me out of that dark misery I was in. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem. Well, I'd better get to class. It's gonna take a lot of explanation to see what happened to me earlier this morning."

Diego chuckles and said, "I don't think they'll be bothering you anymore, but if they do, they better watch out."

"All right. Thanks, Diego."

"Anytime, little buddy."

They both shook their hands and went on their different ways. Max arrives to the classroom and as he sits down between Cody and Jojo, they both see some bruises on his face and Jojo asked, "What happened to you?"

"Got into some confrontation on the way here."

Cody groans and asked, "Nate and Hector?'

"Yep. Seems as though they won't change at all. But I'm grateful that Diego came into save me. He's a real friend."

"Seems as though he's keeping his word, like you told me."

"Yeah. Won't be long until a family comes in to take him in."

* * *

vampire1031, you asked me about Diego being adopted...well that time is now!

* * *

A few days later, when the gang went to school together, Max sees Noah along with Diego as they came in the hallway. Max started smiling as he came towards them and sees Diego happy for the first time. Noah said, "Surprise."

"You adopted him?" asked Max.

"Yep. Just got him yesterday. He seems to be a fit for our family and he's a good brother. My parents are gonna do everything they can to make sure that Diego will be loved and this family will stay together, as long as Diego's a part of it."

Max looks at Diego and said, "Congrats, dude."

"It's all thanks to you, Max. If it wasn't for you back at that group home, I would've remained an angry, dark, introverted, miserable dude for the rest of my life. I suddenly feel like I definitely belong."

"I feel so happy for you."

Just then, Seth and Austin came along with Ryan and Jared and they reunited in the hallway. It was a great moment for all of them and Max asked, "How are you guys?"

"We're doing awesome! We just got taken in yesterday and I'll be honest, we make a great fit for the family." Ryan said.

"Our dad said that he's gonna do whatever he can to make Jared and Ryan feel just like family. We had our first dinner together and Jared told me that he wishes for more dinners like this in the future." Austin said.

"I always hoped that some of those days will happen and it actually has." Jared said.

"I'm happy for you guys." Diego said.

"We're happy for you too." Ryan said.

They all walked the hallway and continued talking and laughing as they make their way through class. For Diego, it felt like the wait was finally over and he's getting ready to take in being a part of the family and he has Max to thank for it and he's feeling what he's never felt for the first time-happy.

Stephen sees them walking around and it made him much miserable and lost faith that he's gonna be adopted. He then sees Max and definitely felt like it was never gonna happen that he'll never get adopted after Max, Frankie, Manny, Josh, Hoagie, Diego, Ryan and Jared.

He walks away and said to himself, "It's freakin' hopeless. Why do they get adopted and I don't?"

* * *

Stephen seems a little jealous about Max and the others being adopted, as well as Diego. So, how does he cope? Next chapter, you might take some guesses about what happens with Stephen.


	26. Stephen Runs Away

We pick up where we left off...

* * *

Chapter 26: Stephen Runs Away

A week has passed and life couldn't get any better for the entire gang. For Manny, Frankie, Max, Diego, Ryan, Jared, Josh and Hoagie, it was like their lives are starting all over as they start a fresh new life together for being adopted. One day at lunch, all of the gang were just talking and everything about their new lives and stuff like that.

Mike shows Max and Frankie this video on his phone about Eric and his friends playing truth or dare and the result of it was Eric getting a pie thrown at his face. Most of them were laughing hysterically. Jojo asked, "Where'd you find this?"

"On WhoTube. I just found it last night." Mike said, laughing.

"Well, I figured they would be embarassing themselves rather than humiliate us."

Max turns to Diego and asked, "So, how's life with the new family?"

Diego looks at Max and said, "It's great, actually. At first, I wasn't sure about what it would be like to fit in with them, but as time rolls on, it seemed as if my life has changed in a 180-degree turn in a week. We've been having a lot of fun, there were lots of laughs, lots of love and a lot of video games."

"Video games?"

"Noah and his older brother have a truckload of video games, where we spent a lot of crazy hours at hand."

"That sounds awesome."

"I still can't thank you enough for helping me break out of my dark shell that I was in."

Max smiles and said, "You're welcome."

"How about you? How's life with yours?"

"Pretty awesome. Cody and I played some serious video games and I beat Cody in his own game."

Cody scoffs and said, "You went on a higher score than me. It's like you were a wiz at Who-Guitar Hero."

"Well, you taught me."

"Man, Max was like an expert at this game." Mike said.

"Yeah, beginner's luck." Cody scoffs.

"You're just mad because he beat you at your own game."

"Look who's talking. I beat you millions of times and my scores have been indestructable."

"Well, they're destructable now."

Cody laughs sarcastically and said, "Very funny, Mikey."

"So, how's life with your family?" asked Caitlyn.

Josh clears his throat and said, "Well, hanging with Marcus is pretty awesome as well. We've become so close like brotherhood should be."

"And his dad makes some of the most coolest, although weirdest pizza he's ever made. Even though Marcus makes them better than his." Hoagie said.

"Well, I make the coolest pizza out of my dad's. Who-pperoni with jala-whno peppers are the best things around. My dad jus makes some Who-nut butter and jelly mixed with cheese." Marcus said.

"Who-nut butter and jelly pizza? Gross!" Misty exclaims.

"You'd be disgusted too if your dad makes something like this."

"I'd be disgusted if Misty makes a pizza out of girly stuff, like glitter." Mike said.

Misty scoffs at him and asked, "Do you ever know when to shut up?"

"Do you?"

"Are you sure you're not boyfriend and girlfriend at all?" asked Josh.

"No!" they both said, in unison.

"Are you always agreeing to anything you say?"

"No!"

"Okay, then."

"Hey, what about you guys?" asked Jojo.

Ryan looks at Jojo and asked, "What about?"

"Life with your new family?"

"Oh, yeah. Me and Jared have been living it up with Seth and Austin and their place is fantastic. We have good fun in this place and our first time sitting down for dinner as a family, can't get anymore awesome than that."

"Not to mention, their basement is like the best hangout place around the whole house. We would spend a lot of time there." Jared said.

"My dad just put in a picture of all of us together-me, Austin, Jared, Ryan and my stepmom-and hung it on the wall of the basement, so that we know that this is our family." Seth said.

"I wish I could see that." Zeke said.

"You can. I have it on my phone." Austin said, getting his cellphone out.

The entire gang looks at the picture and completely went in awe of how it looks like. Dustin chuckled and said, "I wish I would be in a family like that."

"What do you mean, Dustin?" asked Manny.

"Well, my dad and I-we never get along much and sometimes, he would always be so angry at me for the little things and how we forces me to be the perfect son he wanted me to be. I don't want to because I am what I am, but for my dad, it's never enough."

"That's a bummer, dude." Chad said.

"I feel the same way with my dad. He always tries to get me into sports, but I'm more of a music guy and he just disapproves of my dreams and also of me being less of the all-picture-perfect son. One disappointment and I get yelled at or beaten up." Zeke explains.

"Harsh." Jared said.

"How do you cope with the pain?" asked Frankie.

"Mostly, just music. I pour out all my feelings into song and also, posted then on WhoTube."

"That was you?" asked Caitlyn.

"Yeah, you saw me?"

"Yeah, I saw you sing your version of 'Firework' and it brought tears to my eyes. I thought were you were awesome."

Zeke smiled and said, "Thanks, Caitlyn."

As nightfall comes, the entire gang went to the group home to see if they plan to adopt Stephen to the McDodd family. As soon as they came in the place, there were still kids coming around. Ms. Hart comes in and sees most of them in surprise. They all came in for a hug and she asked, "How are you boys?"

"We're doing great, actually." Frankie said, smiling.

"How's life with your new families?"

"Awesome." they said, excitedly.

"So, what brings you by?"

"Well, Jojo plans to take in Stephen to their house. Is he still locked in his room?" asked Josh.

"Not anymore."

"Not anymore? What do you mean?"

"A couple of hours ago, Stephen couldn't take much of this place anymore and he felt like he was losing faith of finding a family and that he blames himself for not saying goodbye to you or trying to let you stay longer."

Everyone grew concerned about this and Jojo looked worried about this and asked, "Well, what are you saying?"

Ms. Hart sighed heavily and told the others, "Stephen...ran away."

The entire place was silent after the enws broke out and everyone was shocked and concerned about this. Everyone looked at each other and they all grew in deep concern.

"Stephen...ran away?" asked Max.

"You mean, he's not here anymore?" asked Jojo.

"That's right." Ms. Hart said.

The thunder rolls out and suddenly, rain patters across outside and Jojo feared the worst that Stephen could be out in the rain all by himself with nowhere to go. He looked outside and asked, "Where could he have gone?"

* * *

Oh boy! What's gonna happen now? Stay tuned!


	27. Finding Stephen

This is where Jojo's brotherly instincts kick in full gear!

* * *

Chapter 27: Finding Stephen

The rest of the gang grew worried about Stephen running away, all alone in the rain at night. Jojo became anxious about where could he be as he looks out the window, while the thunder rumbles and the lightning strikes. Cody sighs heavily and grew worried as well, as he looks at Jojo looking out the window. He walks over to him, puts his hand on Jojo's shoulder and said, "We'll find him, dude."

Jojo sighs heavily and said, "He must be scared, lonely and wet out here."

"It's all my fault."

Cody and Jojo looks at Max, feeling like he's to blame for this situation, when it wasn't even his fault in the first place. Cody asked, "Why would you say that?"

"If I hadn't have checked on him, like I promised, he'd still be here. He's been really upset about being adopted by you guys, I would've said something to ease his pain a little bit."

Cody couldn't stand to see Max blaming himself for it as he comes over to him and hug him deeply. He then whispered to him, "It's not your fault, Max. You tried to."

"To be honest, this kinda happened before." Frankie explains.

Jojo looks up and asked, "How so?"

"Well, he has been thinking about running away so many times, but he never actually does. I mean, I have heard him several times, but I never thought he can actually run away from here, knowing that a family might adopt him, but Stephen never believes it."

"How long have you guys known him?" asked Mike.

"10 years. He's been dropped off by his parents when he was four, because he heard his parents told him that he was a burden to his family over the little things that might've gone off in their personal lives. What I got mostly is that, according to his mother, Stephen was too much to handle and she couldn't bear taking care of him and that he deserves a better family than her. Sadly, his parents split up because of problems of their own, especially with Stephen, his father was abusive towards him and his mother and his father has been bullying Stephen when he was one or two and it caused a heavy impact on him after he was sent here. After his mother dropped him off here, she was still relying on heavy drugs, because of the overwhelming stress of being a single mom and that he couldn't see her like this. Weeks later after Stephen got dropped off here, she comitted suicide. As did his father who killed himself after finding out that Stephen was in a group home and his reaction to that was a mixture of anger, surprise and also relief and called him a burden to their relationship and a no-good little brat, but worse than that, he told him that he will never amount to anything as he grows up to be a nobody." Ms. Hart explains.

All of the gang were remotely shocked about this ordeal. Max shuddered in fear after this and never really knew what to think of it. He turns to his friends and asked, "What do we do now?"

"We got to find this guy. That's what we'll do." Jojo said.

"But how, though? He could be anywhere in Whoville by now." Zeke said.

"Plus, it's pouring raining out here." Misty said.

Mike scoffs and said, "Don't tell me you're scared of a little rain."

"I'm not. It's just that I got my nails sparkly done and I do not want them to get wet."

"What is more important-your sparkly, girlie nails or finding Stephen?"

"You know, Mike does have a point, even though at times, he might say the most stupidest things that will come out of his mouth or lack thereof." Cody said.

Mike bumps on Cody's shoulder with his elbow and said, gritting his teeth, "Not helping."

"You can use my gloves, Misty. They're rain-proof." Caitlyn said.

Caitlyn gives Misty the gloves and puts them on and hopes that it's actually rain-proof. Jojo looks at everyone and said, "We will find Stephen, even if it takes all night to find him in this weather."

"Be careful." Ms. Hart said.

"We will."

"You all need an umbrella?"

"We're good."

They all put on their coats and headed out of the group home and went all around the city to find Stephen. They look high and low, near and far looking from every town to find him. As Jojo walks by alone, he's looking at the balcony of city hall and sees someone there. He stops for a sec and walks up to the water fountain and realizes there's no one there. He sighs softly as the rain keeps going from medium light to heavy. All of a sudden, he sees Nate and Hector walking by and Nate spots Jojo and runs over to him and pushes him in the water fountain, laughing hysterically.

Jojo pops out of the fountain, looking really P'Oed at them and went out, followed them and said, "I don't have any time for you douchebags."

"Douchebags? Look who's talking." Nate said.

Jojo growls and grabs them by the shirts and said, "LISTEN GOOD! I'm searching for Stephen and I don't need to take any crap from you! So if you want to know what's good for you, stay out of my way!"

"Why bother looking for Stephen? He's worthless!" Hector exclaimed.

Jojo lets go of them and said, "You can't change your ways, can't you? You think that you hurting a person's feelings when they've been through a lot, that makes you cool? Like it's all a big joke to you? Well, you call being depressed and then killing themselves because of your stupid bullying ways funny? It's not even funny, nor is it cool. It's just tragic! Now, I'm gonna go find Stephen and if you tortured him already, you will so pay!"

He then walks out angrily, not knowing that Diego was there as well. Diego told Jojo, "You really told them off."

Jojo looks up and sees Diego behind him and said, "Those guys will never change and they pushed me in a water fountain."

"Did they really?"

"Yep."

"Why don't I deal with them while you find Stephen?"

"You'd do that?"

"Of course."

Jojo nodded his head as he walks by to find Stephen while Diego sees Nate and Hector walk off and proceeds to follow them. Meanwhile, the others were looking for Stephen in every part of Whoville, hoping that he's safe somewhere from the rain. Mike looks up at everyone and asked, "Any luck yet?"

"None yet." Manny said.

Dustin sighs and said, "We looked through the city, downtown and maybe even the park. Where else could he be?"

All of a sudden, they all realize that the one place they didn't check yet is the observatory. They looked at the observatory and ran off to see if he's there, unaware that Jojo might be coming there first. As Jojo ran towards the base of the observatory, he sees someone moving on the roof and as the lightning strikes, he sees Stephen on the top of the roof. He went through most of the entrances and landed on the steps and climbs up on the roof. When he got there, he gasped in shock to see that he's planning to jump off the roof and he quickly gets there and yelled, "STEPHEN!"

Stephen suddenly looks behind him and sees Jojo standing there. He asked, "What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm here to take you home!" Jojo exclaimed.

"I'm not going back!"

"I meant to my home!"

"What's the use? I don't want to be a burden off another family's shoulders! I'm worthless!"

"You are not worthless! You know any family would go out of their way to adopt you? Do you?"

"Because they just feel sorry for me! That much I already know and then, after that, they completely don't need you anymore!"

"If you plan to kill yourself, think about what you'll be missing out on!"

"Why are you trying to help me?"

"Because I am your friend! Not only that, you're my brother!"

"I don't believe you!"

"Listen to what he says, Stephen!"

Stephen looks down and sees the entire gang there, trying to help him. He asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were gonna find you, because Ms. Hart told us you ran away!" Zeke exclaimed.

"How'd you find me anyway?"

"We thought you might be here and yet here you are." Cyrus said.

"You're wasting your time! I don't deserve to live anymore!"

"YOU'RE WRONG! You do deserve to live!" Max exclaimed.

"What are you doing here? You never gave a chance to say goodbye to me and here you are, coming over to tell me that I do deserve to live! Why don't you go back the family you got adopted to and just leave me alone?"

"Hey! We're all trying to help you here! If you fall down from the roof, how's that gonna help you?" asked Cody.

"To leave everything behind that's been causing me sorrow and everything painful for me. You guys don't know what it feels like to be me!"

"You're wrong, Stephen."

Stephen looks up and sees Jojo standing there. He grew more agitated and asked, "You're still here?"

"Yes, I am. I understand that you're afraid, okay? But just hear us all out. What happened with your parents was unfortunate, but you have to let go of the past and embrace a new family. I know you've been through a lot, but don't do this to yourself. Give us all a chance." Jojo explains.

Tears suddenly fell down on Stephen's face as he looks at Jojo and realizes that he meant it and so does his friends. Then, he looks at everyone else and they're looking at Stephen with a concerned look and Max said, "Stephen, I'm sorry I never got a chance to say goodbye to you, but my being adopted doesn't mean I wouldn't care about you anymore. It's got nothing to do with our friendship, either. You just have to believe that it will get better and a family would be happy to adopt you. You just have to make the effort for it. Let Jojo take you in."

Stephen then looks at Jojo and he suddenly fell down to his knees and starts sobbing uncontrollably and Jojo gets out his extra poncho and wraps it around Stephen and hugs him tightly. He whispered, "It's okay. I'm here, Stephen."

"I didn't know you guys cared about me that much." Stephen said, tearfully.

"Because we're in the same universe you are. Can you be a part of my family?"

Stephen suddenly nods his head and agrees to be a part of his family and then whispered, "Yeah, I will."

"Just give us a chance, okay?"

"I'll try."

Jojo and Stephen got down from the roof of the observatory and went along with the others and let out a huge sigh of relief, not knowing that Diego was there the whole time. Diego looks at Jojo and asked, "How'd you find him?"

"I had a hunch that he might be in the observatory."

"You do realize that you almost scared the crap out of us, right?" asked Jonah.

"I never thought you guys cared so much." Stephen said.

"It's a good thing you're okay now, because I was thinking about killing you afterwards." Misty said.

"Easy, Misty. Let's not get that in the way of your manicured claws of yours." Mike said.

"Shut up."

"Come on, let's get him one, guys. My parents might be worried." Jojo said.

"Good call."

Everyone walks off the observatory and headed for the McDodd house. Stephen looks at Jojo and said, "Thank you."

Jojo looks at him and said, "For what?"

"For caring about me."

"You're welcome. But don't ever scare me like that again."

Stephen let out a smile and said, "I'll try."

* * *

Was that bananas or was it bananas? Well, they found Stephen. So, I know what the question is...what next?


	28. Back Home

Stephen makes it to the McDodd house! What happens next? You'll see!

* * *

Chapter 28: Back Home

Jojo walks back at the McDodd house with Stephen, both soaking wet, and suddenly, his mom came downstairs quickly seeing both Jojo and Stephen soaking wet. She looked at them and said, "Where were you both? It's raining out there."

Jojo looked up at his mom and said, "I had to find Stephen. He ran away from the group home and we spent hours loooking for him."

She came up to Stephen and hugged him tightly and then told him, "You almost scared us when Jojo sent us that message earlier."

"I'm sorry." Stephen said, sadly.

Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam came back to the house along with the others with their raincoats on. Sally looked at Jonah and the rest and asked, "You guys too?"

"We came to take Stephen back here, but Ms. Hart told us that he ran away, so we went all around Whoville to find him."

"How did you find him?"

"We had a hunch that he might be in the observatory, so we all went there to make sure and Jojo was there first and Stephen was thinking about jumping off the tower."

Sally gasped in horror and said, "Please tell me you stopped him."

"Jojo did. We all did."

Sally sighed in relief and said, "That's a good thing. Jonah, you and Travis and Sam take Stephen to the bathroom to dry him off and give him some clean clothes."

Jonah, Travis and Sam went with Stephen upstairs to dry him off while half of the others went home while the rest of them stayed a while. Jojo sat down on the couch just thinking about that moment and felt like Stephen desperately needs a family and a place to call home. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes a little bit. Mike looks at Jojo and asked, "You okay, J?"

"I was just thinking. When I heard that Stephen ran away, my heart immediately skipped a beat and I was thinking about so many things that were in my mind, like him being kidnapped, lost, scared, cold, and sometimes even worse. I guess it was my brotherly instinct." Jojo replied.

Mike puts his hand on Jojo's shoulder and said, "You did the right thing, man. It just shows that you care so much for Stephen, you're willing to do anything for him."

"How can you tell?"

"Me and Cody have been looking out for each other almost our whole lives and it made an impact on us since Alex died that we would look out for each other. Now with Max, Frankie and Manny, we're willing to do whatever we can to make sure that there's a lot of love and also a sense of feeling like they're really home."

Jojo sighed and said, "I guess you're right. I looked out for my sisters and then, Jonah, Cyrus, Hawk, Travis and Sam and I guess I gotta adapt to Stephen as well."

"Look at the bright side, J-dude. At least you won't have to worry about who's keeping track of who." Cody said.

Jojo chuckled softly and then, sighs also and said, "I don't know what to do."

"Well, I can't tell you what's best for you, but we think you'll make a great brother to Stephen."

"I agree as well." Max said.

Then, Sally comes out with a few snacks and serves them to the others. Then, Jojo notices a plate reserved on the table and he asked, "Who's this one for?"

"It's for Stephen." she replied.

Jojo smiled a little and realized that Stephen really does belong at the McDodd house. Meanwhile, Jonah gave Stephen some clean clothes and after that, he came towards him and said, "You know, you really scared the crap out of us tonight."

"I messed up big time." Stephen replied.

"Why would you even think about jumping off the observatory roof?"

"I just couldn't take being bullied anymore by Nate and Hector and I didn't want to be a burden to anyone's family like my parents told me."

"You've gotta let go of the past, dude."

Stephen sighed heavily and then, looked at Jonah and said, "I never realized how much you guys cared a lot about me."

"Of course we would. If we hadn't, you could've been killed. We weren't gonna let some of our friends put themselves in a situation where it goes to the point of ending their life. All of us made a promise to always look out for each other, no matter what."

Then, all of those words start to sink in on him. He finally understands everything the rest of the gang-including Max-were talking about. He then said, "You're right. I've been letting the past eat me alive for so long, I completely lost track on what's important to me, just finding a family and all."

"You just have to give people a chance, Stephen. Can you at least give us a chance to be a part of our family?"

"I'll...I'll try."

Jonah smiled and hugged him tightly. Stephen felt like it was like someone wanted to give a chance and let him inside his circle that he's been isolating himself out of in so long. Then, Jonah said, "If you ever do something like this again, I will totally go nuts on you."

Stephen chuckles softly and said, "I'll try my best."

Later, the rest were downstairs just enjoying some snacks and everything until most of Jojo's friends went home and Sally walks towards Stephen and said, "You can sleep in Jojo's room tonight."

"Okay."

Stephen went upstairs and Sally told him, "Don't worry, Stephen. Everything will okay, I promise you."

Stephen nodded his head and Sally felt absolutely sorry for this kid as she went into the couch to just sit and think. Just then, Ned comes downstairs and sees Sally there, as he came to the living room and puts his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Honey, what's wrong?"

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Ned then comes over and sits down next to her and Sally responded, "When Jojo sent me that text about Stephen running away in the rain, I was just terrified that something will happen to him."

"I know he's been through so much, dear."

"It's just that...Jojo told me that he was afraid of letting anyone in and that if a family adopts him, he might be a burden to that family."

Ned puts his hand on Sally's hand and said, "Honey, I'm sure someone will take care of him."

"I know."

"We'll find him a home that's safe and that he considers a great home."

"We will, right here."

Ned's face froze and slowly turns to Sally and asked, "Excuse me?"

"I wanna adopt him here, Ned."

"But, Sally...we have enough kids. Why do we need another one?"

"Well, Jojo was the only boy and now that he's got Jonah, Cyrus, Sam, Hawk and Travis, we might need an extra one. Stephen needs that comforting shoulder and he's a great fit for our family."

Ned was suddenly skeptical about this decision and that he is willing to give it a chance, but isn't sure about how it'll be adjusted. He sighed deeply and said, "I agree with you. I'm not saying 'no', but this is a huge decision. Are you sure about this?"

"Who said we wanted a big family? You told me that we'll have more kids, whether by birth or adoption."

"Yes, I did, but-"

"Come on, Ned. Just give a chance to adapt here."

Ned sighed heavily and said, "All right. He can stay here."

Sally smiled and kissed him in he cheek. Ned asked, "What was that for?"

"For being a respectable, loving and kind husband that you really are and a good father too."

"That's what I married you for."

Unaware that Jojo suddenly overheard the whole conversation and he walked back to his room with a smile on his face and as soon as he came back to the room, he looked at Stephen, falling asleep and he whispered, "Welcome home, Stephen."

* * *

Think Stephen will be taken in? Find out soon, guys!


	29. Standing Together

vampire1031 gave me a request to see if the gang can take down Nate, Hector and Eric and his crew. Dude, you got your wish!

* * *

Chapter 29: Standing Together

The next day, the entire gang went to school together, just talking and laughing and stuff. After the scenario that occured with Stephen, he felt like he's starting to find his place in the world and found in the McDodd house. When they got to school, they found themselves with Nate and Hector along with Eric and his posse. Suddenly, without warning, water balloons were flying out of nowhere and it landed on Max. The group exclaims in shock and Jojo asked, "You okay, Max?"

Max was a little soaked and then, looks up at the roof and said, "Oh, no."

The rest of gang looked up and sees Nate in the roof, throwing some water balloons along with Hector and aimed it at Max and the rest of the group. Almost immediately, they ran through the entrance and when they got inside, Jonah looks at everyone and asked, "Everyone okay?"

"I think so." Mike said.

"Those douchebags are never gonna change, aren't they?" asked Frankie.

"Sadly, no."

The gang walked through the hallways and most of them went off to class, hoping that the situation may be forgotten. Hours later, the gang went to free period, just to hang outside and talk a little bit. Just when they were ready to move on with the situation with the water baloons, it seems as though Nate and Hector along with Eric and his clique can't seem to quit stalking most of the gang and when they went towards them, Eric slaps Max in the face. Max groans in pain and looks up and sees Eric standing in front of him.

"Dude, what's your problem?" yelled Max.

"Vile emo freaks. We don't allow your kind here in this school." Eric said, getting in his face.

"Dude, back off." Mike said.

"Or you'll what?"

Then, Nate and Hector came in the picture and brought in water guns to squirt all of them. After that, they were laughing hysterically and high-fiving each other. Jojo couldn't stand it anymore, so he got off, ran towards them, took the water guns out of Nate and Hector's hands and threw them near the football field. He then yelled, "Why are you always tormenting us?"

"It's what we do." Eric replied.

"Well, these are my friends you're tormenting!"

"Who cares about your stupid friends? What kind of emo trash would make friends you?"

"Uh, we would." Josh said.

"Yeah, this dude is like the ultimate best friend, no matter what you say or do and when you mess with our friend, you mess with all of us." Marcus said.

"Maybe if you were in our position, you'd know being a bullied victim sucks." Sam said.

"Why would I? We like to torture you, because we don't give a crap about what anyone tells us not to do and nobody stops us, not even you!"

Nate comes towards Max and got in his face and asked, "Hey, Max. Wanna play a little game of...drag knuckles?"

Nate cracks his knuckles and Max swallowed hard and starts shaking and said, "Not drag knuckles."

"Oh, yes."

Max tries to run, but Nate grabs Max's ankles and drags him and suddenly, he starts punching him in the face, left and right. Jojo, Frankie, Mike and Cody try to stop them, but Hector beat them up along with everyone else. Suddenly, Diego walks by and sees all of this unravel and that sent him over the edge. While Max gets beaten, he suddenly rolls up his fist and looked extremely angry. Nate continues laughing and suddenly, when he sees Max looking P'O'ed, he slowly stops laughing and then, he grabs Nate's ankles and proceeds to punch him all over.

He then beats the living crap out of him and threw him down on the ground. Max bellows, "This is for everything you've done to me all this freaking years!"

He kicks him the groin, which made Nate groan in agonizing pain as he lays on the ground. Suddenly, the rest of gang took on not only Nate, but Hector, Eric and the rest of their posse. They punched, shove, kicked and gave them a piece of their own medicine like never before. Stephen came towards Max and Nate was coughing hard and looked really angry. Stephen and Max looked at each other and formed a devious look in their face and both of them kicked him in the face and groin. Nate groans heavily and then, Max asked, "Want another piece of me?"

Nate quickly gets up and looks fearful and said, "No."

"Then, beat it." he said, with a menacing voice.

Nate fearfully runs away from them, screaming "MOMMY!"

Both Stephen and Max started laughing and high-fived each other and Stephen said, "He won't mess with us anymore."

"Let's hope." Max said.

Just as Nate was running, he bumps into Diego and as he looks up, Diego chuckles softly and said, "Hey, Nate. What's wrong, tired of messing with my friends?"

Nate was shaking terribly and he suddenly ran away from him, screaming. Meanwhile, Hector was screaming as well and he said to the others, "We're sorry!"

Diego comes along and asked, "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Just giving those douchebags what they bargained for." Hoagie said.

"Mind if I...?"

"They're all yours, buddy." Jojo said, happily.

Suddenly, Nate back quickly and sees Diego planning to bring them to teach their lesson. Frightened, Nate ran away again, but Diego grabbed him and set him off the ground and punched all of them in the faces and in the stomach. He chuckled and said, "Nobody hurts my friends."

Everyone came back and Zeke said, "I hope you guys never harm or torture another soul ever!"

They walked off together and headed back through the breezeway and suddenly, Caitlyn come by and sees most of them a little banged up and she asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing." they all said, in unison.

She walks off and everyone continues walking and Jojo said, "We did it, guys. We all stood together and all of us really stood our ground."

"Yeah, we did. I have to say, they won't torture us anymore." Frankie said.

"Hear, hear!" Marcus said.

* * *

Not exactly what I had in my head, but it'll do. vampire1031, hope I made it impress you. Stay tuned for the last chappie!


	30. Welcome Home

Well, here's how we wrap this up!

* * *

Chapter 30: Welcome Home

A short two days later, Jojo was hanging around with Jonah, Hawk, Travis, Cyrus and Sam, just kicking back and stuff. It had been a crazy couple of weeks, but they were liable to just chillax for a while. Jojo and Jonah were just playing some cards, Hawk and Cyrus were listening to music and Sam and Travis were playing cards with Jojo and Jonah.

Jojo looks over at his cards and plans to switch to a new card and adds it on his cards. He looks up at the others and asked, "Jonah, got any...7's?"

"Nah. Got any...4's?" asked Jonah.

"Go fish."

Jonah chuckled softly and said, "You're good at this."

"How do you think I got skills with dealing with 96 sisters?"

"Good point."

All of a sudden, Sally and Ned came home with Stephen, which made them all head towards the front room to see the news. Jojo was the first to ask, "So, what happened?"

"It's official. Me and Sally talked it over and we met with Ms. Hart and she told us that Stephen is now a part of our family." Ned said.

All their faces were lightened up as soon as they heard the news. Travis then asked, "You mean...he's our family now?"

"Yes, Travis. We're all gonna do what we can to give Stephen a lot of love, someone to give him a warm shoulder and also a good amount of safety. Jojo, when Stephen told me you stopped him from ending his life, it made a good sense that you are willing to take care of him and for that, I am proud of you."

Jojo smiled and said, "Thanks, dad."

He hugged him tightly and said, "I promise that we will make sure he's got someone to look out for."

Sally smiles at Jojo and Ned and Stephen realizes that all he ever wanted was a family that he could now call 'home.' He looks at Jojo and the rest and let out a smile and told Jojo, "Thank you...for everything."

"That's what brothers are for." Jojo replied.

"Stephen McDodd...welcome home." Sally said, happily.

Stephen looked happy and said, "Thank you...mom, dad. All you guys."

"Having you here is thanks enough."

Jojo and the rest of the Mosley's gave Stephen a hug and Ned and Sally looked and see the brotherly love connection with sheer happiness. The next day, Jojo and the rest of the Mosley's and Stephen went on their way to school and they see Mike, Cody, Manny, Max and Frankie on their skateboards following them. Mike said, "Morning, guys."

"Hey, Mike." Jojo said.

"So, we heard Stephen got adopted." Cody said.

"He's one of us now." Jonah said, smiling.

"See, Stephen? I told you." Max said.

Stephen chuckled and said, "Well, I deserved that."

"But aside that, I'm really happy for you."

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Not believing in anything you say about someone adopting me. I was still in grips with the past and just became so enraptured with my past, that it prevented me from having hope for finding a family that I want to be in. I was just depressed and stupid and paranoid, cause I was still holding on to the past about my first family and I didn't want to become a burden to another one."

"Maybe I should've soften the blow for you, even though I tried."

"I almost damaged our friendship about you being adopted. I felt like I was losing my best friend."

Max put his hand on Stephen's shoulder and said, "You know you'll never lose me. We'll always be friends, adopted or not."

Stephen smiled and asked, "Friends again?"

"Always."

Both of them hugged each other while the others look at them just feeling like old friends again. Max then said, "No matter what happens, our friendship will be strong enough to handle anything."

All of a sudden, Marcus, Josh and Hoagie came around in another direction with Zeke and Dustin as they see their friends walking to school together and followed them. Zeke said, "What's up, guys?"

"Hey, Zeke!" exclaimed Sam.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing much. Just heard that Stephen finally got adopted! Congrats, dude!"

"Thanks." Stephen said, smiling.

"We told you so." Josh said.

"Okay, I deserved that too."

"But we're really happy for you." Hoagie said.

"And it's because of all you guys that pulled through for me, even though I did shut you out."

"You know we might give you a little kick in the butt for that, right?" asked Frankie.

Stephen chuckled and said, "I think I'm good."

Then, Chad, Noah, Diego, Seth, Ryan, Jared and Austin came towards the rest of the group and followed them to school. Seth said, "Hey, what's up, guys?"

"We're just walking." Hawk answered.

"Hey, Stephen. How ya doing?" asked Ryan.

"Good, actually." Stephen said.

"Jojo told us you got adopted yesterday. Seems like you owe us a thank-you and an apology for not believing us." Jared said.

"All right. I'm sorry, you guys. Also, thank you for trying to help me out. I just wanted to let go of the past and be accepted for me so desperately." Stephen said.

Diego looks at Stephen and said, "The most important thing is that you've got family to be around and are lucky to be with."

"You're right about that."

Suddenly, in comes Mana and Koa coming along with them. Jojo looks at them and said, "Hey, guys!"

Mana and Koa looked at Jojo and both of them waved to them and Koa asked, "How's it going?"

"Great. You guys coming to school with us?"

"Yeah, we are." Mana said.

"So, what's been going on?" asked Koa.

"It's a long story."

Mana sees some of the other guys and asked, "New friends?"

"Yep. These are Diego, Manny, Max, Frankie, Josh, Hoagie, Jared, Ryan and my new brother, Stephen."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Mana and this is my brother, Koa."

"Hey, how are you guys?" asked Koa.

"Awesome." Diego answered.

"They adopted?"

"Yep. And we are all one big happy family." Jojo said, happily.

* * *

That's a wrap, folks! Thanks to vampire1031, lightfaith0606 and Whozonegirl for reviewing this fic! Much thanks to your support! Animation Universe 2005 is out!


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